


After the flood

by bunnysworld, Eisbaerfussel



Category: Merlin (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Military, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Difficult Decisions, Drama, Falling In Love, Love, M/M, Modern Royalty
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-09-23
Updated: 2018-09-23
Packaged: 2019-07-15 22:59:55
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 56,012
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16073147
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bunnysworld/pseuds/bunnysworld, https://archiveofourown.org/users/Eisbaerfussel/pseuds/Eisbaerfussel
Summary: Merlin is known as the “Wizard” in his Search- and Rescue unit. Flying a helicopter is second nature for him and he takes pride in getting people out of tricky situations. When severe weather causes a huge flood in a part of the country, he and his team do everything they can to get everybody out and to safety.Arthur is the prince of the kingdom and not happy with his father’s ideas of keeping their (royal) distance. He wants to be part of the action and show that he cares about the people of the kingdom by doing more than giving speeches and looking good at charity events.Things come to a head when Merlin’s team falls apart and he needs to find replacements if he wants to keep his chopper in the air and continue his mission.





	After the flood

**Author's Note:**

> This is my 2018 Big Bang entry.  
> I don’t even know how this came together. Probably seeing the footage of the flood last year (hope this doesn’t trigger anyone) and the insensitive ‘visit’ attempts of a certain politician? But then the plot bunny developed its own dynamics and there was the story. Even though I have some experience with military, I don’t know enough to claim that everything is portraited correctly. So…this is a completely fictional military and their behaviour and procedures are correct for them *grins* Same goes for royalty. In my country we don’t have a king or queen and all I have is a decent half knowledge from watching all the documentaries about the Windsors on TV. It was fun to write Merlin as a not-quite-soldier and his struggle when he is confronted with the Prince of the Kingdom.  
> As every year, I set up my artist trap and it didn’t take long before the incredible eisbaerfussel willingly let herself be caught, even though she has so much to do in real life right now. I absolutely adore what you did and am so in love with the galaxy-coloured theme you chose. Thank you so much, darling!  
> Of course, my boys weren’t speaking proper English, so once again issy at the other end of the world whipped Bunnish into readable English. Thank you so much for your hard work. Without you, it wouldn’t be much fun to read it, as everyone had to wonder what I really wanted to say. Good thing, that you are fluent in Bunnish for years now :)  
> Last but not least, a massive thanks to the mods of the community for once again running the Big Bang and keeping up with us. Thanks for everything you do!
> 
> Check out [Eisbaerfussel's beautiful art](https://archiveofourown.org/works/16073927) here and give her all the love she deserves!
> 
>  
> 
> Eeeep! The best Eisbaerfussel in the world arted some more for this! Thank you so much, hon!

Leon ran a hand through his hair as he glanced up at the TV which was showing a steady stream of footage of weather forecasts that looked increasingly ominous. He desperately needed a haircut but as soon as he thought it, he almost laughed hysterically. How could he think of something as trivial as his hair being too long in a situation like this? Like everyone else, he did what he could: work himself into a state of exhaustion and still feel it wasn’t good enough.

He let his gaze wander across the gymnasium of the local high school that had been made into a shelter for those most affected by the flood. Leon always tried not let it get to him too much when he was sent to a disaster area by the Red Cross. Even though he had done this job for quite a few years, it still touched him to see the people they rescued sitting about, not knowing if their homes were destroyed or even if they had anything to go back to once the water receded.

The children affected him the most. The dark shadows underneath their eyes, the empty gazes as they tried to comprehend what was happening started to haunt him. At least some of them had found each other and played in the corner of the big hall. 

“Anything new?” Gwen, the resolute headmaster of the school came in.

In the beginning, they had butted heads quite a few times but now they were a great team. Gwen had managed to give them all the rooms they needed and it wasn’t below her to move desks and tables, hand out meals or comfort a crying child. 

Leon knew that it would take a while after they were gone to get this part of the school back to its original condition but he was grateful to Gwen and her ideas. She had also emptied out some classrooms for the medic team to work in and even cleared enough space for the helicopter crews to get some rest. 

“Weather doesn’t look good.” Leon blew out a breath. “It’s almost like this damn storm doesn’t want to leave!” He looked at the papers he had taken from the printer and shook his head. “If the wind picks up again, we’ll have to call back the choppers…”

Gwen frowned, made a little annoyed sound and folded her arms in front of her chest as she leaned against the desk that Leon had made his HQ.

“I know, but until then, they will do anything to get as many people out as possible.” He tried to smile encouragingly.

She sighed and threw him a look that couldn’t be more desperate. “I know, Leon, but…you’re not from here. This is my community. I know most everyone who’s sitting out there, taught their children, know their stories…” 

Leon had never seen her so vulnerable. What could he say to that? “You know the helicopter crews will do everything they can to get them all to safety.”

Gwen straightened up, sniffed and ran her hand over her eyes. “I’m sorry. I know they’re all doing a wonderful job.”

“Why don’t you go get some rest?” Leon suggested.

Shaking her head, she plastered a smile on her face. “I think I’ll check if Doctor DuLac and his team have everything they need.”

Leon looked at her for a moment and then turned to the new reports that had come in by email.

Arthur leaned back in the limousine. A while ago father had given him a speech that he expected him to take over more duties to represent the monarchy but now they had had quite a nasty fight about him actually doing it. Some of the advisors were on his father’s side, saying it was too early and too dangerous to go out there and meet some of the flood victims, others had agreed with him that it would send the right signal that the palace wasn’t sitting the crisis out. Also, as Arthur had insisted, this was something that his mother would have done if she were still alive. He had to carry her legacy on. 

They were on the way to one of the shelters now and Arthur wondered what he would encounter. He could never imagine the situation these people were in, so what would he tell them that didn’t sound too shallow? At least he wasn’t in formal wear. A suit and tie would have been out of place, so they had chosen jeans and a polo shirt for him and he felt a lot more like himself in this. 

Quickly, they left the familiar surroundings of the palace behind and Arthur would have been happy to get away from the city and see a bit of the countryside if the circumstances had been different. He still didn’t like the entourage he had to drag about. 

“Is there really no way to shake the press?” 

Arthur knew the look Elyan threw him before it even showed. 

“I’m very sorry, Sir, but that is the whole purpose of this event.”

After all these years, he still hadn’t been able to get Elyan to call him by his given name, even though they spent more time together than with anyone else. 

“We can make it as quick and simple as possible, though.” Elyan obviously had seen the look on his face. “You can go in, say hello, we’ll have some pictures taken and you will be on your way back in no time.”

Arthur shook his head. “No, that’s not what is going to happen. I didn’t fight for this so hard only to run away as soon as things get real.” 

As his father was more the old-fashioned, unapproachable monarch, Arthur had made it his goal to show the people that they were just human and that they cared. 

“After a couple of photos and some footage, the press has to leave. I will stay.”

He saw the small smile tugging at the corners of Elyan’s mouth that showed him that his assistant knew him well enough to have expected this answer. Arthur relaxed. This visit would go his way and he would stay as long as he felt the need to.

“Slow now, slow…”

Merlin heard Percy’s voice through the speakers in his helmet. Of course Percy was talking to Gwaine, who was trying to balance along the roof of a flooded house to pick up the remaining person. 

“Got it. Almost there!” He heard Gwaine yelling, to not let his words get lost over the noise of the helicopter. “Just hold her steady, Merlin, we’ll be right there.”

Merlin had to trust his crew 100%, as he couldn’t see what they were doing. He had to concentrate on flying or in this case holding the Lady – as they called their chopper – still in the air long enough for Percy and Gwaine to rescue the people from the roofs of their houses. 

He was a good pilot, flying came to him naturally. When the others in his class had struggled with reading weather charts and calculating various things, Merlin had just known, instinctively, without giving it much thought, which had earned him the nickname ‘Wizard’. 

Even under bad and constantly changing circumstances, he reacted and stayed calmly and kept his head. Search and Rescue missions weren’t easy and they only sent the best but Merlin didn’t care about prestige, the only thing that counted was that they got these people out safely. 

The wind picked up and if Merlin wasn’t mistaken, this would be the last tour for a while. It felt as if the rain returned in full force. If only conditions would stay halfway decent, so they could finish this mission here and now.

It was hard seeing people being trapped by water, sitting on the roofs of their destroyed homes, waiting to be rescued. Children with big, fearful eyes, women crying, men barely keeping it together. Merlin had stopped counting their numbers, this was the sixth or seventh tour they had flown on this day alone. He knew his crew was tired and that was why he needed to be able to concentrate even harder. He heard Percy and Gwaine go through the drill and knew that Gwaine had secured the elderly man in the harness and was giving Percy the signal to winch them up. This was one of the most critical moments in their mission. It was important to set down the winchman with as much precision as possible but now, on the way up, Gwaine had another person with him, someone who didn’t know the drill, who was scared and might panic and do something unexpected at any given moment. 

As usual, Merlin felt a great calmness overcome him. He had never understood how it worked, but as much as he had to listen to what his crew was doing, it was like he was in the zone now, just flying, feeling the helicopter around him, as if it was a living organism and they were connected. So he felt more than he saw a gush of wind grabbed the helicopter and tried to push it off course. The chopper did a little jump that even Merlin couldn’t avoid. 

He heard Gwaine howling and then cursing and Percy had a few choice words to add as a woman and the children who were already on board screamed out. It didn’t take long to steady the chopper again and with a minor delay, Percy hauled the man in. 

“Gwaine?” Merlin asked as all he heard from his was grunting.

“Take her home, Merlin.” Percy shouted.

Gwaine didn’t sound good and when Merlin felt the noise level change as the big door closed, he turned the chopper around to head back to the football field which was now a temporary landing pad.

Leon tossed his mobile across the table. He knew there was nothing he could do about it and actually it was an honour, but why did the Prince have to pick their shelter? It only meant more work and a wasted afternoon in which he could have done work that made more sense. And to think that His Royal Highness was already on the way! The nerve!

If they had warned him a bit in advance, they could have thought of stuff to show the prince and pick people he could talk to, but now he was only about half an hour away, there was just enough time to inform everyone.

Stomping out of his office, Leon made his way over to DuLac’s rooms. 

“Lance?”

The young doctor looked up from where he was finishing some reports. “Leon! Come on in!”

“Are you busy?”

“Yes.” Lance grinned.

“Then I’ll just…”

“Come in, Leon. No busier than usual. Actually, it’s nice having some time to write up these reports.” He leaned back and stretched. “What brings you here? You usually don’t show your face in this part of the shelter unless it’s important.”

Leon chuckled. “I don’t want to be in the way, but you’re right, it’s important. I just got a call.”

Leon informed Lance about the incoming crown prince of Camelot.

“What?” Lance made a face. “As if we didn’t have enough to do already.”

“My sentiments exactly, but there’s nothing we can do about it.” Leon shrugged.

Sighing, Lance copied the motion. “Smile and wave?”

“That’s about all we can do. I suspect they will want some photos here in the make-shift infirmary, too.” 

“I’ll talk to my people. Thanks for the warning, Leon.”

After talking to Lance, Leon made the round and informed all the staff and then the people. He didn’t like that the monarch’s son decided to come here on such short notice, but when he saw the hope in some of the people’s eyes, he knew it was a good thing. 

Arthur took a deep breath and opened the door of the car. He had never been big on waiting for someone to do it for him, so why would he start now? It drove his father crazy that he ignored parts of the protocol, but he was just a man in his early thirties and even though being born in the palace gave him a special place in society didn’t mean he was incapable of opening doors or approaching people by himself.

He didn’t wait for someone to open an umbrella for him either but walked towards the entrance of what seemed to be the gym of a big school. A tall man with curls and a scruffy, friendly face was standing next to a petite dark-skinned beauty. Both of them looked equal parts tired and excited. 

Of course he knew their names, Elyan was very thorough when he briefed him on these things, and so he greeted them and thanked them for the opportunity to see what the situation really was like this close to the actual flood areas. 

The palace’s photographer took photos but he wasn’t like the vultures of the press and didn’t invade their personal spaces or the conversation. 

Leon Knight, who was in charge of this shelter, went into professional mode and Gwen Smith, the headmaster of the school, seemed to be very nervous and shy in the beginning. It was nothing Arthur hadn’t encountered many times. Some people froze at the mere sight of him. He had shocked the palace and the public when he – at the age of nine – had freely shared the information that he pooped just like a normal person, so they shouldn’t treat him any different. Of course, these days, he had different techniques to make people forget that he was the crown prince. 

“We even managed to set up a small infirmary where Doctor DuLac checks the people who are being brought in by helicopter and assesses them. It’s up to him and his team to decide if they can stay here or have to be transferred to the hospital.”

“He’s here all the time?” Arthur liked what he had seen so far and as much as he wanted to meet all the staff to thank them for their hard work, he wanted to meet the people, too.

“Yes, Sir. Like everyone else, he made camp here at school, so he doesn’t waste too much time commuting and is available any time.”

Arthur nodded, greeted the young doctor and let more explanations wash over him. He asked questions and liked that the doctor was so in his element that he didn’t seem to do the ‘Oh my God, it’s the prince!’ thing and just chatted away. 

“I don’t want to take up too much of your precious time as I see you have another patient.” Arthur smiled at the little black-haired girl who stood shyly in the doorframe. 

“Shannayia, is everything alright?” 

The girl threw Arthur looks, but then held her arm out to the doctor. 

“Oh, you’ve come to get your bandage checked? Let me see if we need to change it and what that scratch on your arm is doing. Can you climb up in this chair?” 

The doctor turned his attention to the little girl and seem to forget Arthur completely. 

Leon nodded. “Don’t take too long, Shannayia, it’s almost dinner time, I think I can hear the ladies starting to serve already.” He winked at the girl. 

Arthur chuckled when the girl’s eyes lit up.

“Food seems to do the trick.”

Grinning, Leon gestured so they would leave the room. “With Shannayia it usually does. We have not much to offer, Sir, if you would do us the honour of having dinner with us? I think it would mean a lot to the people.”

Arthur pondered that for a moment. He wasn’t here to eat the food that others had donated for people in need, even though it would be a good opportunity to meet them and talk to them. But no. “How about I’ll help serve?”

Merlin cursed under his breath. That gust of wind had come out of nowhere and yet he felt he should have sensed it coming. The little jump the chopper had done had caused Gwaine to lose his footing and land half in the water, where he had injured his leg on some sort of debris that was flouting by, whatever that was. At least that was what Percy said. 

So not only had he four people on board who were wet and scared, but also an injured winchman, who was surprisingly quiet. That was unusual for Gwaine, who usually was loud and chatty to distract people from the actual danger, but now he didn’t want to scare them further and just gritted his teeth. 

Merlin had radioed the message to HQ the moment they had Gwaine on board and was now landing carefully. He needed to see what had happened but first, they had to get the people off the chopper. The little crew of medical personnel and volunteers had been waiting for them and Doc Lance and a nurse were already approaching with a stretcher. That made Merlin grin despite himself. Gwaine would start arguing the moment they tried to make him lie down. 

The volunteers took care of the family as Merlin finished the last checks and pulled the helmet off his head. He climbed out and touched a hand against the metal. The wind and rain had picked up again and this definitely was the last tour for the day. It would get dark in about an hour. An hour lost. They could have gone on another round and at least check if there were more people stuck on the roofs of their houses. 

Together with Percy, he secured the helicopter against the wind and then they ran back to the buildings just when it started to pour down again. 

“Merlin!” Freya beamed when she saw him. “How was the tour?”

He looked at her with tired eyes. “How’s Gwaine?”

Freya frowned. “Lydia took over but from what I’ve seen, you’ll need a new winchman.”

“Is it that bad?”

“I’m not the doctor, but it looked like some nasty deep cuts to his right calf. What happened?”

Merlin started recounting what he had heard and felt and then shook his head. “I should have known sooner that this wind would make the chopper jolt.”

She put her hand on his arm. “Don’t blame yourself. That helps nobody. Why don’t you just go and freshen up and then get something to eat?”

“Not hungry. I need to find out how bad things are with Gwaine.” Just as he said it, the door opened and the doc’s team pushed Gwaine on a stretcher out to the corridor. “Gwaine!”

His winchman smiled at him dopily. 

“What’s happening?”

Percy, who had been waiting on the other side of the corridor came over. “They’re taking him to a hospital.”

Doctor DuLac nodded. “It’s easier for them to patch him back together there. We don’t have the facilities…”

Merlin paled. He should have known that something was seriously wrong when Gwaine hadn’t babbled on and made jokes on the way back, yet he had hoped that it wasn’t that bad and Lance could stitch him back together and he would be back on the crew in a couple of days. Even though everyone hoped this mission would be finished within a week. 

“Don’t flirt too much with the nurses!” He yelled after Gwaine, knowing that when Gwaine wasn’t under the influence of pain killers, he would flirt with everything in the entire hospital. Oh, who was he kidding, he would flirt if he was doped up or not. 

Percy just stood there and looked lost. “What am I going to do now?”

“You,” Merlin took a deep breath. He had known it would not be a good thing that he had a secret couple as his crew. “You, my friend, will go, take a shower, eat something and then rest up. The moment the light comes up again and conditions allow it, we’ll head out again.”

Percy blinked and focussed on Merlin, the appeal to his professionalism obviously working. He huffed out a bitter laugh. “How, without a winchman?”

Arthur knew he was more in the way than actually helping, but he enjoyed having a job. Even though the ladies who came to serve dinner had stared at him in awe, one of them had outfitted him with an apron, gloves and a hairnet before she explained what his job was. He had seen Elyan rolling his eyes in the background as he knew that his photo would be on the internet before he even had served the first meal. He would look ridiculous and it would make his father furious, but Arthur got a weird grim satisfaction out of it. He was here to help and help he would.

So he did as he was told, handed out tray after tray, had a smile and an encouraging word for everyone and found he enjoyed it to the fullest. It was still difficult looking into the haunted faces, but in more than one pair of eyes he saw a gleam of hope when he talked to the person. If this was all he could do, hand them a meal and give them a tiny sliver of hope… Arthur knew that wasn’t enough. There had to be more that he could do. 

After everyone had their dinner, Kate, the determined lady in charge of the meals, loaded a tray and shoved it into Arthur’s hands. “Here.”

“But…” Arthur looked at her.

“Oh, isn’t our food good enough for your lordship?” She had tried to provoke him by barking orders at him and pointing out loudly whenever he had done something that wasn’t as well-practiced as the moves of everyone else.

Arthur decided not to correct her addressing him. He was just Arthur, especially in an environment like this. And even if not, nobody would address him with ‘your lordship’, he was a royal highness, but that wasn’t important at the moment. “It definitely is. But this is food donated for the people in need. I can’t take that away from them.”

Kate stared at him for a moment and then her features softened. “You’re not even bad for a royal.”

That seemed to be a big compliment, coming from her. “Thank you.”

“Now, tell your gorgeous wingman to get his delicious black arse over here, so he can get dinner too.”

Arthur thanked the etiquette training his teachers had forced on him when he was little or else he would have laughed out loud. Elyan had hovered close all the time, took notes and made phone calls, but he hadn’t interfered. That he caught the woman’s eye was funny and that she didn’t even try to hide her interest was even funnier. That Elyan, who had heard every word that had been said, turned a little greenish around his nose, was the funniest of all. “Yes, Elyan,” Arthur could barely contain his laughter, “get some dinner, too.”

Leon just got off the phone when he heard that the helicopter crew – or what was left of it – coming in. As if it wasn’t bad enough that they had still people out there trapped on the roofs of their homes, they had lost a crew member now, which made it more difficult to operate. With a bit of luck, Gwaine would be up and about in no time, but Leon doubted that he would recover fast enough to finish this mission. So he made a few phone calls to see if anyone could replace him. Not that Gwaine could be replaced, everyone liked the roughish Irishman who never seemed to lose his good mood and flirted and joked with everyone. Leon also knew that this wasn’t the time for personal emotions, he had this mission to coordinate. 

He collected a list of names and got up to talk about them with Merlin. It was his crew and maybe he knew some of the names on the list and could tell him if they fit into the team. Taking a last sip of his now cold tea, Leon got up and went to find the pilot. 

“Oh, Merlin!” He called out when he saw the man at the end of the corridor. 

“Leon.” Merlin nodded and gave him a weak smile. 

The pilot was tired. They all were, but there were dark circles underneath Merlin’s eyes, the long hours and responsibility taking their toll. Merlin might not be in the mood for the news he had, but Leon plastered a big smile on his face.

“You weren’t here when the big news came in.” He tried to sound excited. The prince’s visit hadn’t been as interruptive and exhausting as he had thought, but it still meant changes in their routine. 

“More bad news?” Merlin threw him a look.

Leon laughed. “No, actually it’s good news, big news. The prince is here.”

“The prince?” Merlin echoed and blinked. 

“Yes, the prince.” Leon nodded.

Shaking his head slightly, Merlin shrugged. “Prince is dead, if he showed up now to give a charity concert; that would be big news. The fresh prince of Bel Air? Doubt Will Smith makes an appearance here. So…which prince?”

“THE prince. His Royal Highness, Arthur, Prince of Camelot.”

Merlin looked at him as if he had never heard anything more silly and appalling in his entire life. “Oh, needing publicity much?”

“Come on, Merlin, he’s not that bad. He’s here to help.”

“Standing in the way and taking up everyone’s time is hardly helping.” Merlin made a face. 

Leon shook his head. “It’s not like that. They did a few publicity shots, but he’s actually out there, handing out meals, not just standing by, watching. And you should see people’s faces. The prince came to meet them; whichmeans a lot.” Who was he trying to convince anyway? 

Merlin sighed deeply. “Whatever. It doesn’t concern us, let him play the Good Samaritan, he’ll be gone soon in anyways. We have a problem to solve. Gwaine won’t be back and if we want to keep the Lady in the air, we need to replace a member of our crew and quickly.” 

“Working on it.” Leon handed Merlin the list he had so far. “I thought you might know some of these people. We might have to work with whoever they will send us, but maybe it helps if you can give them some hints?”

Arthur had had dinner with the people and after some initial shyness, they had begun talking freely to him and he had tried to listen and give some encouraging words. But what did he have to say to someone who probably lost everything they owned? Every little piece of memorabilia and photos, everything that went along with all that? He couldn’t even imagine it. 

Sometimes he had exchanged looks with Elyan, who had managed to escape Kate and join them at the table. Arthur knew that Elyan didn’t need a notepad to memorize what the people told him. He could recount every word days later. 

After dinner, when he had posed for some selfies, Arthur excused himself. He needed to find a bathroom and then wanted to talk to Leon again before he left. 

He shook his head slightly at Elyan, who immediately wanted to follow. He had always found it ridiculous that people, usually security, followed him to the loo. And how difficult could it be to find the bathrooms? This was a school, they should be on every corridor. So he directed his steps towards the area where Leon’s office and the doctor’s area had been set up. 

“Anything I can do for you, Sir?” Gwen Smith just left a room and he almost ran into him.

“Arthur, please call me Arthur.” He smiled.

“Arthur.” Was that a slight blush on her face?

“I just wondered where I could find…” Wow, finding the bathrooms seemed to be a lot more difficult than he had thought, he had never actively had to ask for directions. 

Gwen looked at him blankly for a moment. “Oh! That’s bit tricky as the buildings were erected at different points in time and then connected by staircases and walkways. You walk down here, take a left, up the stairs half a floor, enter there, take another right and you’ll find them at the end of the corridor.”

Did they have to give the students maps on their first day? That would come in handy. Arthur nodded a thanks and then walked on as if he knew what he was doing and finally, he found the bathrooms.

After he had washed his hands and stepped out into the corridor again, a tall man nearly ran him over. 

Arthur blinked. The man hadn’t even apologized when it was clearly his fault for rushing in like a madman. “Excuse me?” He couldn’t help it. Any other day he might have let it go, letting his manners take over, but it had been a long day and he was just as tired as everybody else. 

“Yeah, what?” The man almost glared at him. 

“Maybe you should take it easy, watching where you’re going?” Arthur went for a light tone of voice, but his message was clear. 

“And maybe you should just get out of the way and not block the entrance to the loos.” The man looked at him and then huffed out a laugh when he recognized him. “Oh, of course, because it’s you, everyone has to stand aside. If you’d excuse me now, I really need to go.”

With that, the man turned and left Arthur standing there. Arthur had encountered people before who thought that the palace was a redundant remainder of the past and should not be recognized in any way. None of them had been so hostile, though. 

He could have waited to seek a discussion with the man, but Arthur knew that wouldn’t lead anywhere. Everyone here was exhausted and needed their down time and by the looks of it, it had been one of the helicopter crews, judging by the flight suit and all. 

Arthur dismissed the episode and went on his quest to finding his way back to where Elyan was most likely waiting with Leon, so he could say good-bye.

Merlin still frowned when he left the bathroom. He had lost one of his crew today and didn’t know yet if he would be up in the air again the next day and the royal idiot thought he was obligated to make nice with him? If he thought that, he’d have to think again. The prince was in the way, he had to leave them alone and if nobody else told him, Merlin didn’t mind volunteering for the job. Hopefully, he had left by the time he made it to the briefing. 

After a quick detour via his room, where he sat his helmet down and quickly scanned the list Leon had given him, he made his way to the debriefing. 

Leon looked up from his tablet. “That doesn’t look good.”

“No,” Lance shook his head. “He sure won’t be back before this mission is over.”

“Which means, we are one crew short.” Leon sighed.

Merlin’s head flew around. “You’re not one crew short. Percy and I are still here. We only need a new winchman.” Which was easier said than done. To fly these missions, you had to be a team, had to blindly trust the others and go through routines with well-practiced moves. Someone new in such critical circumstances would always be a risk and none of the names on the list were very appealing. 

He felt Percy’s eyes on him, knowing that it must sound like treason towards Gwaine. As if Gwaine was just replaceable. He wasn’t. Merlin knew that. If they wanted to keep flying and doing their job for the people of this community, they had no other choice but to find a new winchman. 

“I’m glad you mention it.” Leon smiled carefully. “I’ve made a few more calls and there’s a crew over at Lanford…”

Merlin perked up. He knew some of the helicopter crews that were sent there, so maybe… “Mithy?” Her name hadn’t been on the list. 

Looking something up on the tablet, Leon nodded. “Mithian Ellerton. She went through the same training as you all and she did great things over in Lanford.”

“You know her?” Percy looked at Merlin.

“Yes, I do. She’s good at what she does. What happened to her crew?”

Leon shrugged. “I heard their pilot broke his arm and I don’t know what happened to the other. But you’re a crew without a winchman and she’s a winchman…winch woman?...without a crew.”

“A match made in heaven.” Percy murmured, not very enthusiastic. 

Gwen, who hadn’t said a word since they all came in, glared at the tall man. “Do you have an issue with her being a woman?”

Before Merlin could open his mouth, Percy already shook his head. 

“Sorry, didn’t mean it like that. It’s just…we still haven’t gotten a word from Gwaine and…” Percy blew out a deep breath and sagged down in his chair. 

“Maybe I can help with that.” Lance just entered the room after excusing himself to answer a call. “I’m just off the phone with the hospital. He’s out of surgery and the head surgeon said it looks good. It will take a while, but with the right physio treatment and enough time, he’ll be as good as new.”

“Enough time…” Percy repeated sighing deeply.

Leon got up. “That’s settled, then. Gwaine can take all the time he needs to heal and with Mithian on board, you’re a crew and can get on with the job.” 

Merlin nodded. He knew he would have to talk to Percy again, make him see that this wasn’t the time for emotions and fear. They had a job to do, there were people depending on them. They needed Mithian to go on and they had all the time in the world after the flood receded to go through their emotions and deal with them. 

Arthur was exhausted and leaned back in the car. After dinner, he had talked to a few people and played with some of the kids for a while. Even though that was a lot more than his father would have done, Arthur felt like it was not enough.

“Did you make a list of things still needed?”

Elyan nodded. “Yes, Sir.” He went into a lengthy explanation of the things he’d observed that were needed; Arthur didn’t listen, he knew Elyan had it covered. 

“I hope you already made the calls to the palace, I want these things delivered as soon as possible. Tomorrow, get together with all the other shelters, not the organisation, the people like Leon. They know best what they need.”

Trying to hide his smile behind his tablet, Elyan nodded. It looked like he had already done that, knowing all too well what the prince thought. 

“Oh, and add a few toys for kids of all ages. They need to play and work their energy off. Just sitting about doesn’t do them any good.”

“Will do, Sir.”

Arthur closed his eyes and even if it seemed that he had fallen asleep, he was thinking. Should he continue his visits at different shelters? Or concentrate on this one? Of course he would give all the shelters the help he could provide, but he wanted to be there, too. Just sitting in the palace all day long got awfully boring and it felt as if he was needed out there. 

After dinner, he had talked to people, listened to their stories and it broke his heart that some people had lost everything. When a little boy had leaned against his leg when he had talked to his mother, he had picked him up and they had drawn together on an old notepad with tiny colour pencils, which had drawn in more and more kids who wanted to watch. Unfortunately, his drawing skills were very limited, which had made the children laugh. 

After that little run-in with the pilot, he had thanked Leon and his team again and they finally made their way back to the car. Arthur wondered what it would be like to just stay there with everyone. 

Slowly, he made his way to his rooms when they reached the palace and this world of plenty and overflow of elaborate decor all of a sudden felt very strange.

It had been a long and trying day, and after a call from Wing Commander Kilgharrah that confirmed Mithian Ellerton was now assigned to his crew, Merlin knew he had to talk to Percy. So he waited until they both had eaten and taken a shower, before he made his way over to Percy’s room. All the personnel had gotten empty class rooms for themselves and even though it felt a bit weird to have a cot with the backpack with his personal belongings right next to small chairs and desks and a whiteboard, Merlin had worse lodging on missions like these, so he didn’t complain. Percy’s room was just across the hallway and didn’t look much different than his. 

Merlin stood in the open door and knocked against the doorframe when Percy didn’t notice him right away. 

“Merlin.” Percy nodded and that was the sign for Merlin to enter the room. “What is it?”

“Hey…I don’t mean to take away more of your spare time, but I thought it might be good if we talked.”

“What do you want to talk about?” Percy hung his flight suit over one of the little chairs and made a face. It was as good as throwing it on the floor right away.

Taking a deep breath, Merlin leaned against the teacher’s desk. “What happened today…”

“Was an accident, I know.”

“Percy, I’m sorry that it happened but there was nothing I could have done.” Merlin had asked himself this exact same question since he had landed the helicopter. Could he have done anything differently and thereby prevent Gwaine’s injury? The answer was simple, even though unsatisfying: No. It wasn’t his fault that the wind caught them the way it did and he couldn’t have done anything about the debris drifting in the water. 

Percy nodded, but didn’t look at Merlin. “I know. A lesser pilot than you would have crash-landed the chopper.”

Merlin didn’t like the tone of voice he heard. “Perce…if you don’t trust me anymore…” This was worse than he had thought. To fly these missions they had to blindly rely on everyone on the team, if one of them didn’t trust the other and would question decisions and orders even just for a split second, it could all go downhill.

Lifting his head, Percy looked at Merlin with tired eyes and slightly shook his head. “I know you’re the best. It’s just…do you know what it feels like when your partner gets injured and then taken away from you and you can’t even follow to the hospital to see how they’re doing?”

“No, I don’t. And I’m sorry. Gwaine’s my friend, too, you know?”

They exchanged a long glance and at last, Percy nodded. “I’m sorry.” He rubbed his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose. “I shouldn’t let emotions take over. This is not the time…”

Merlin went over and squeezed Percy’s shoulder. “You’re off duty now, you can…”

Percy straightened up and looked at him. “No, we’re not off duty. As long as this mission goes on, we’re on duty. You know that. If they called us in the middle of the night, we’d go out there and do the job. And that’s what I’m going to do. I’m sorry for acting like this, it won’t happen again.”

Running a hand through his hair, Merlin didn’t comment. That was their work ethics, they all had to do this. It was good that Percy reminded himself and that he didn’t have to do it. And yet, they were all just human and should be allowed to try to cope with the situation in their down time. 

“Have you heard from him?” He asked carefully.

Nodding, Percy tried to smile as he held his mobile out to Merlin. “A text and a photo.”

Merlin grinned at the photo. It showed Gwaine in a hospital bed, obviously still doped up, but already giving them a thumbs-up. 

Percy took the mobile back from him and took a deep breath. “Tell me about this Mithian, is she as good as everyone says?”

Leon straightened up when a petite woman entered the room.

“Excuse me, I’m looking for Mr. Knight?”

Smiling, Leon got up. “You found him.”

“Oh! Hi! I’m Mithian Ellerton, here to find my new crew?” She smiled widely and shook Leon’s hand with remarkable strength.

As she was already wearing a flight suit and had her helmet on top of her sports bag, it would have been weird if she had been anyone else, so Leon took her hand. “Nice meeting you. Let me make a call, someone will come to pick you up. Sorry that I can’t bring you myself, things got really busy again this morning.”

Mithian nodded. “The weather just doesn’t want to give us a breather.” She was right, the morning had started like the last day had ended: With more rain. 

While Leon called Merlin, Mithian started to study the weather charts and other data that Leon had pinned on the walls. 

“Mithy!” His mobile still pressed to his ear, Merlin stormed into the room. 

Mithian beamed widely and let herself be pulled into a hug that she almost vanished in. “Merlin!”

“So good seeing you. Welcome to the team. Ready to get started?”

Without even nodding a good-bye to Leon, Mithian followed Merlin out of the room and down the corridor. 

“So that was the new winchwoman?” Gwen came in, bringing a plate with sandwiches. 

Leon nodded. “I had pictured someone completely different in my mind, but if she is as good as they all say…” He shrugged.

“Difficult to imagine that she can wrestle anyone into a harness,” Gwen looked after them. “But hey, maybe she has great communication skills and talks them into it. And it’s probably easier to get her and a passenger up into the helicopter as she’s not as heavy.”

“Merlin seemed to be delighted. So we’ll see how it goes.” Leon reached for one of the sandwiches and took a hearty bite. He hadn’t had breakfast, so this snack was very welcome. 

“I don’t care, I’m going!” Arthur knew he had the same stubborn almost-pout on his face that he already showed as a child when he had set his mind on something and father said ‘no’. 

“If you think you need to do charity work, you can do it from here, Arthur.” His father gave him the cold stare that had stopped working on him long ago. 

“It’s not the same, they need me out there.”

“Have people do it.”

“People are already doing it. Have you met any of them? Did you look into their faces? They are desperate, exhausted, they don’t know what the future holds for them. If I don’t go back there, they will think it was just a publicity thing.”

“Oh, it wasn’t?”

The venom in his father’s voice made Arthur curl his fists. At least on the inside. The self-control hammered into him as a child was still working and took over without him even noticing. “Elyan, get the car ready.” 

Arthur just left the room. He didn’t care that his father didn’t approve of him doing this. After the previous day, he just couldn’t leave those people alone. It would only give those, who thought that public appearances were nothing but publicity to make them look good and that they didn’t care about the people of their country, more fodder.

He had asked in the kitchens for all the food they could provide on such short notice and had Elyan call Leon to announce his arrival. 

This time, he didn’t bother with official cars and escorts.

“Are you certain that your personal security…”

Arthur looked at Elyan. “Yes, I am certain. You don’t have to come, I can do this on my own.”

Elyan shook his head slightly. “I am fully aware that you can do it on your own, Sir, I’m still coming.”

Smiling, Arthur grabbed the car keys and left the palace. His smile turned into a grin when Elyan buckled up in the passengers’ seat. “You only want to see your lunch lady girlfriend again.”

“Oh no, not again!” Leon groaned as he hung up.

“What is it?” Gwen, who had just come in from talking to some of the women, looked at him. 

“He’s coming back.” Leon allowed himself to make a face.

Gwen blinked. “The storm? Don’t tell me this shitty weather made a U-turn and is coming back to destroy what it has left intact?” She leaned against a desk. This couldn’t be true!

“No,” Leon managed a smile. “Looking at it that way, the lesser of two…I shouldn’t call him ‘evil’…but…the prince is on his way here again.”

“What?” Now Gwen made a face. “I mean…he’s nice, good-looking and interesting…” She caught herself and tried to hide a blush by looking out of the window. “The people really liked his visit, but…”

“Exactly. But. He will be here all day and we all will have to take time to explain things again and…” Sighing, Leon tried to come up with a schedule to keep the prince busy. 

“Maybe,” Gwen mused, “Maybe, if we give him a job, I mean, like a real job, something we all do here, he might be too exhausted tomorrow to come back again?”

“What are you thinking of?”

“Well, we always need someone to empty the trash cans and clean the trays after meals and help with the washing.” Gwen looked as if she could barely contain her laughter picturing the prince taking out the trash.

“You’re evil.” Leon chuckled.

“But you like it.” Gwen winked at him.

The first thing Merlin did in the morning, even before he went to get breakfast, was to check on the Lady. It had been very windy all night long and the rain had been coming down hard, so he needed to make sure she was alright. 

He hadn’t slept too well, waking up again and again, tossing and turning. Gwaine’s accident was vivid in his dreams. So was the incident with the royal prat. 

Merlin wasn’t big on royalty as it was, he just didn’t care about the bunch of big-headed snobs who didn’t know anything about real life. If he hadn’t been so upset about how the day had ended, he would have reacted differently, he knew. This mission was getting to him and that wasn’t good. He was trained to perform under stress, maybe he wasn’t as tough as everyone believed? Then again, they all were just human. 

If Merlin was honest, the prince was exactly what he would find attractive. Tall, blond, blue-eyed. As a teenager Merlin had wanked over every new photo of him that he could find in the tabloids. He wasn’t a teenager anymore, though, the encounter shouldn’t be in the forefront of his mind like it was. 

When he was done checking the helicopter, Merlin took a deep breath and went to get some breakfast. The ladies who gave out the meals always put a bit more scrambled eggs on his plate or gave him a bigger slice of cake, if there was any, saying he was way too skinny and he needed to eat to keep doing his job. Merlin smiled. He just couldn’t hold on to weight if he managed to gain some. He had always been slim, gangly when he grew up, now there were enough muscles – Percy made sure of that by torturing him at the gym if they had the time to work out – they didn’t need to worry. He was fit. 

While he was eating, a little boy climbed on the chair across from him. “Hi.”

The boy didn’t answer, just shoved a piece of paper over. 

“What’s that? Did you draw that?”

The boy’s mother joined them. “Didn’t I tell you not to disturb him while he is eating?” She grabbed the boy. 

“Oh, don’t worry about that. Why don’t you join me?” Merlin didn’t really want to make small-talk to her, but he didn’t want to be impolite either. 

“No, that’s alright, you need some peace and quiet. It’s just…he drew that for you. As a little thank you for…” Tears came to the woman’s eyes and she choked up.

“It was the least I could do. I hope you can go back to your home soon.” He didn’t even remember her. When Merlin flew, he didn’t see their faces, he was focussed on his machine and what his team did. As sad as it might have sounded, those people were just living freight at that point in time. He had to fade out that they were individuals, all that counted was to get them out of the situation. 

“Thank you,” the woman whispered again, took the boy and left him sitting there.

Merlin looked at the drawing. He smiled when it showed three figures in flight suits and helmets standing in front of something that faintly resembled a helicopter. The boy had drawn his crew. He would show Percy the drawing when they came back tonight.

Now, he had to finish his breakfast and go to the briefing.

“Alright,” Arthur stood in the doorway to Leon’s office. “What can I do today?”

“Your highness…” Leon plastered a polite smile on his face.

“Arthur, please, it’s just Arthur.” There were two kinds of people that Arthur had encountered all of his life. Those that didn’t care at all about him being the prince and the others who couldn’t think about anything else. 

“Arthur,” Leon’s smile softened a bit. “You don’t have to…”

“I do. I feel like I have to. I want to. Did the deliveries arrive yet?” 

“Yes, S…Arthur. Thank you so much. Gwen…Miss Smith is still going over everything to see how to distribute it to the people.”

“Can I help her? Or do you need someone to serve meals again?” Arthur grinned. It had been weird but oddly satisfying. “I want to talk to more people, of course, but I want to be useful as well.”

“Talking is very useful. You should have seen them last night after you’ve left. You gave them the feeling that they matter to the palace; that means a lot.”

Arthur smiled. “They do matter. I need to show them that I can do more than talk, that I mean business. So…any job you have, I’ll do it. Even if it’s taking out the trash.” He grinned.

Leon couldn’t help but laugh. Would Gwen be disappointed that the prince had just volunteered to take out the trash? “How about we check with the kitchens again? Maybe they need someone to cut the bell peppers or something?”

“Anything you have.” Arthur nodded and followed Leon, hoping that he didn’t really have to take the trash out. Then again, he was here to help. If that needed to be done, he would do it. 

It had been another long day but all they did was check to see if there were people still stuck somewhere in the flood area. When they couldn’t find anyone, they did a few exercises, so Mithy and Percy could practice as a team. They weren’t bad together at all. Of course nothing was done with the practiced ease that came with Gwaine. Percy and Gwaine had been a team before they had been assigned to Merlin’s crew and it showed. Mithian was good at what she was doing, but it still needed a lot of communication where Percy and Gwaine acted on instinct, knowing what the other would do. Merlin had a good feeling, though.

After they had gone through the post-flight checks and secured the Lady, Merlin praised his team right away and then again at the de-briefing. They knew on their own what they still had to work on, he didn’t need to point it out and was pleased when they immediately started to discuss certain aspects as soon as they were in the building again.

Merlin had taken a long, hot shower and was now on his way to the kitchen area to see if they still had some dinner left for him. While he was in the air, he forgot about things like food, but now his stomach was grumbling.

The kitchen staff was about to clean up for the day, but the lady with the bright red hair smiled widely at him. It seemed as if she had made him her personal project and went to the fridge to pull some things out. 

“I saved this for you. Thought you might be hungry when you got back. Let me reheat it for you quickly.”

Merlin smiled and leaned his shoulder against the door frame as he waited. He would have been happy with a sandwich, but a warm meal was even better. 

“Here you go, gorgeous.”

Merlin laughed. “Oh, cut it out or else I might fall in love with you.” He blushed a bit as he said it. He had never been interested in women and she could’ve been his grandmother, but he wasn’t good at flirting, he knew that much. 

She laughed with him. “Oh, there you go.” She handed him a plate that was more than full with wonderfully smelling food. “I’m not sure my husband would like that. You might have to fight him over me.” She winked, handed him some cutlery and then turned when someone from the other side of the kitchen made a remark. 

“Thank you.” Merlin called after her and turned to find a seat. There were still people sitting there, talking or just enjoying a cup of tea after the meal. 

Merlin thought of his mam while he was eating. She always scolded him for wolfing down his food. If she could see him now, carefully chewing each bite, enjoying the warm food after a hard day of work. She had never found the right balance between being awfully proud of her son, who made a living as a pilot and thereby getting people to safety and being so worried that she could barely sleep. It was better when he didn’t tell her too much about his job, but she knew he was out here, so he decided to give her a call after he was finished with dinner.

After that, he would check to see if Leon was still around and had any news for them and then he would call it an early night. He was confident that the mission would be over soon and things would go back to normal.

Just as he was done with the last bite and shoved his tray away, Mithian entered the cafeteria. She seemed to be in a hurry and Merlin smiled. 

“Hurry up, they’re about to close down for the night.” The smile on his face died when he saw the look on hers. “What’s wrong?”

She just jerked her head in a way to indicate for him to follow her and turned on her heel to leave the cafeteria.

Jumping up, Merlin forgot all about his tray and his plans for later. Mithy never looked at him like this without a reason.

“What’s wrong?” He asked when they were alone in a corridor. 

“Percy.” Mithian just threw him another look.

“What about him?” Did the tall man freak out again over his boyfriend? Was something wrong with Gwaine? Aside from things already being wrong because of the accident?

Mithian didn’t even stop walking. “He tried to break up a fight.”

“A fight? Who was fighting?” Oh no, this wasn’t good. 

“Some blokes over in the far corner. Don’t know about what. We were just hanging out in Leon’s office when we heard it. Percy went over immediately.” She directed her step towards the make-shift infirmary. 

“Mithy, what is wrong with Percy?”

“Those blokes decided that he was a much worthier goal for hitting and before someone else could step in, he was in the middle of a fist fight.”

That was difficult to imagine. Percy was the calmest person he knew. “He was fighting?” Merlin couldn’t believe it.

“It was more like he tried not to fight. To keep them apart. They only stopped when a woman poured a bucket of water over the fighters.”

If this had been a scene from a movie, Merlin might even have laughed at it. It had a certain slapstick quality to it. If it had been so easy, though, Mithian wouldn’t be stopping in front of the examination rooms. 

“Doc Lance is checking him right now.”

Merlin took a deep breath. “Thanks for getting me.” He carefully knocked at the door and peeked a head in. “Can I come in?”

Freya threw Merlin a sideways look when he snuck into the room, Doc DuLac ignored him completely. He was focussed on his patient. 

Who happened to be Merlin’s best winch operator. The only winchOP he had. 

Percy winced when the doctor touched his face.

“Okay, that spares me the question if that hurt.” 

Merlin couldn’t help but smile. He had seen Lance work a few times. He was fully concentrated when things were really bad but tried to lighten the mood with remarks like that when he could. 

Even Percy, who seemed to be in more than a bit of pain, tried to smile. 

Freya handed Lance some things and Merlin just watched. They moved around this room and worked together like his crew did. Without many words, one knowing intuitively what the other wanted. It was interesting to watch. 

“Percy, you need to get this X-rayed.”

“What? Why?” Percy sounded weird, obviously his nose was affected and there was some swelling. He also talked very slowly, as if even speaking hurt. 

“We have already established that your nose is broken. I suspect there is more damage and I can’t treat it here. At least not without seeing what’s really going on.”

Merlin inhaled sharply without even intending to, but he managed to not say anything. 

“Chance does a tour to the hospital, he’ll be able to take you in a few minutes.”

Percy just nodded slightly and closed his eyes. When he opened them again, he looked at Merlin. “Sorry.”

Shaking his head, Merlin tried not to be in the way. “Don’t worry. It happened. You tried to help.”

“You should have seen him.” Freya started to clean up Percy’s face very carefully. 

“You were there?”

“Yeah, I was looking for Miss Simpson and the twins.” As if that explained anything. “And those blokes were getting into an argument. Percy tried to keep them apart. He’s a hero.”

“A hero with a broken nose.” Percy whispered. 

He looked horrible. There was dried blood under his nose and on his upper lip and his chin, his T-shirt showed red spots, too. 

“A hero nonetheless.” Freya insisted and cleaned his hands a bit, too. “Here comes Chance, you be a good soldier and go with him.” She beamed up at Percy, who, even in his state of defeat, hanging shoulders and all, towered over her. 

Merlin pondered coming along. That was what a good pilot did for his crew, but he couldn’t leave. He needed to talk to DuLac and then had to make a call to their unit. 

“Call me when you are done, alright?”

Percy nodded and left with the male nurse. 

Merlin blew out a breath and looked expectantly at Lance who just discarded of his gloves. “So?”

Lance made a face. “I hate to be the bearer of bad news.”

“What is it?”

“Let’s hope I’m wrong, but…” He looked at Freya.

“The zygomatic?” She suggested.

Lance nodded. “Yup. I think it’s broken.”

“The zygowhat?” Merlin looked from one to the other. 

“His cheekbone on the right side. It is hard to tell without an X-ray, but he was way too sensitive there for it to be alright.”

Merlin felt sick to the stomach. Aside from his crewmember and friend being injured…oh no, it looked as if he was out of a winchOP, too. “He won’t be flying tomorrow.”

“If it’s really a fracture, he won’t fly for a few weeks, much less haul people into a helicopter. I’m sorry, Merlin. Even if it’s not a fracture of the zygomatic bone, his nose is broken for sure, so…” Lance shook his head. “Permission to fly denied.”

Merlin closed his eyes and swallowed hard. 

“I’m really sorry.” Lance tried to give him an encouraging smile.

Rubbing his hand over his face, Merlin tried to gather his thoughts. “I guess I will have to make a phone call. The Wing Commander needs to know.”

Arthur stretched and wiped the sweat off his forehead. He had worked hard all day long and they hadn’t given him a breather aside from the lunch break that he had after lunch shift. Elyan had poked his head in a few times, ready to get him out of the kitchens, but he had always shaken his head signalling that he wasn’t leaving. He had come here to help and he would do what they told him to do.

Of course, the wide grins of the kitchen ladies had shown him immediately that the ‘Oh, my God! The prince!”-fascination from the day before had worn off and now they just wanted to see if he would cave and leave. He had sworn to himself that he wouldn’t. So he had hauled tons of trash out, cleaned dishes and trays and was then promoted to cutting up vegetables for dinner. It was nothing that he hadn’t done in his time in the military, but that didn’t mean he was used to it. If he were honest, he had to admit that it was exhausting.

It seemed to have gained him new respect from some of the ladies that he didn’t complain even once, didn’t try to sneak out for a break or showed them that he was too good for such work. Arthur knew that he was very well off having people to do these things for him day to day. He had to do it when he was a student and if it helped to make these few ladies see that living in the palace didn’t make you soft, it was worth the hard work. 

After they handed out the dinner and cleaned up, Elyan had tried again to make him leave, but Arthur wouldn’t have any of it. He helped Gwen hand out some of the things that had been delivered and when he found a football with the toys, he had gathered the children and declared the smaller one of the gym rooms the football field. 

Soon, there was shouting and laughter and even the adults gathered to watch. Arthur laughed when the children started to squabble about whose team he was on, so he decided to play one half-time for team red and the second for team blue. Not that he did much anyways. He loved football and had always preferred it over Polo, much to the horror of his father. He played whenever he could make time. He also knew that he was way too competitive when it came to this sport, so he didn’t do much now, but shout some encouragements and celebrate the goals. Arthur didn’t care who won. If he could take these children’s minds off the situation they were in for just half an hour, it was worth it. 

When he decided he had had enough, he snuck out. He needed to talk to Leon. 

“I thought he’d never make it through the day,” Gwen chuckled, her eyes twinkling. 

Leon nodded. “You have to give him that, he didn’t give up.”

“To think that he just took out the trash like that…” 

Now Leon had to grin, too. Gwen had been quite evil in assigning the prince to the kitchen crew. Those ladies were used to working hard and they didn’t hold back with their opinions. Everybody who was new had to do the lower jobs and the prince was considered the new one. 

“We will get in trouble if videos show up on the internet, you know that.” 

“All of them know. I hope they didn’t take any.” Gwen made a face, but couldn’t help but laughing. “Couldn’t be angry with them if they did, though. He looks quite fetching in a hair net.”

“I look quite fetching in most anything.” Arthur leaned against the door frame and had overheard the little exchange. So they had done this on purpose. He couldn’t be cross with them, if he were them, he would probably have done the same. “Did I pass the test?”

Gwen blushed furiously. “S…Arthur! I’m sorry, it’s…”

Leon straightened up. “I sincerely apologize. You said that you would help where help was needed.”

“And the lunch ladies needed help.” Arthur nodded and couldn’t keep the grin off his face. It was kind of mean but then again, it was quite funny, too. At least from their point of view. They were the ones who had made the prince haul around trash. 

“Yes, so…”

“Don’t worry about it.” Arthur entered the room. “I hope I earned myself a spot on the team today. I assume Elyan has informed you of my suggestion?”

Gwen looked at him. “You really meant it?”

“I do.” Arthur smiled. He had packed a bag this morning, he had no intention of going back to the palace now.

Leon exchanged a look with Gwen, before he held out a hand. “Welcome to the team, Arthur.”

Arthur shook the offered hand. “If you have nothing else for me to do today, I go and find my cot now”.

“You have already found out that it’s a bit tricky to find things in these buildings, so maybe I should show you?” Gwen had prepared a room, not really thinking that the prince would go through with this. Obviously she had been wrong and he was staying.

“That’s very kind of you.” Arthur made a tiny gesture to say ‘lead the way’. 

Merlin had been on the phone for the larger part of the last hour. First, he had to explain to the Wing Commander what had happened. He had been careful with his phrasing. His unit didn’t like when service members were involved in fist fights or any fights at all, but it didn’t take much convincing for the Commander to believe it hadn’t been Percy’s fault. Percy was known as the calmest of them all. 

Of course his command hadn’t liked the situation. 

“Damn, Flight Lieutenant Emrys! What’s up with you and your crew? Can’t you keep them out of trouble?”

That was rather unfair. “With all due respect, Sir, I wasn’t even anywhere near the fight.” 

“I know. But you’re going through crew faster than we can provide replacements. In a crisis situation like this one, all manpower is needed and I really can’t think of anyone to send you.”

Merlin swallowed hard. “Does that mean we’re grounded?”

“Let me make a few calls. I can’t promise anything, but if I pull the right strings…”

“Thank you, Sir.” Merlin thought that was the end of the call.

“Just one more thing.”

“Sir?”

“Ellerton. Did everything go well with her?”

Merlin couldn’t help but smile. “No problems at all. She fit in seamlessly.”

“I expected nothing less. Now you get some rest and we’ll see what tomorrow morning brings.”

“But Commander…”

“Get some sleep, Emrys, that’s an order.”

Merlin hung up. He had been pacing an empty corridor all while being on his mobile. Now he leaned his head back against a wall. He was tired. No, that wasn’t the right word. He was drained. Flying these missions was exhausting enough. But losing basically your whole crew within not even 48 hours…

He slid down the wall and just sat on the floor. Merlin knew that none of this was his fault and he had no idea how he could have prevented it. He didn’t know about the debris that caught Gwaine and how on earth could he have known that two men would decide to pick a fight? If he had been close, he could have held Percy back. But who was he trying to kid? In situations like these, Percy couldn’t be held back. Usually his sheer size intimidated everyone who thought violence was an answer into giving up. Obviously it hadn’t helped this time. 

Merlin felt a hysterical giggle bubble up. How ironic. They had done everything they could to complete their crew and now they were one man short, again. If this kept up like this, he would be the next to end up in hospital and the Lady would have to be grounded permanently. Or worse, be flown by someone else. 

He closed his eyes. What was he supposed to do now? He could hardly call Gwaine to vent about the predicament they were in. Gwaine sent selfies almost every two hours. He was still doped up and bored, which was a dangerous combination. By now, he probably knew that Percy was in the hospital, too, so Gwaine would most likely have better things to do than to listen to him whine. 

Percy had just texted that the X-rays had returned and it looked good. Well, just in so far that it was only a hairline fracture and would heal nicely. Which meant that Percy was definitely out for the time being.

Fuck. 

Fuck Fuck Fuckety Fuck. Capital letters. 

Merlin hit his head back against the wall slightly. They were trained for these missions and now when they were really needed, they couldn’t fulfil their duty. 

Maybe he should just go to bed, as the Commander had suggested. Maybe the world would look a bit brighter in the morning? Maybe they would get orders to return anyway when the other crews confirmed that there was’ anybody left in the flooded areas? Their mission could be finished in the morning and that would give his crew time to recover. Merlin couldn’t move, though, he just sat there, deep in thought.

Arthur had been shown to his classroom made bedroom by Gwen, where his bag had been waiting for him already. He had unpacked and gone to take a much-needed shower. Before he finally tried to sleep, he would give Elyan another call to check if everything they had tried to organize was under control.

On the way back from the showers, he must have taken a wrong turn and he found himself at the end of a corridor he had never seen before. They all looked pretty much alike except for the drawings and paintings of the pupils that decorated the hallway. Which had saved him a lot of times when he once again lost his way in the weirdly arranged buildings. He definitely hadn’t been in this one before. 

What made him stop in his tracks was the figure sitting on the floor. If he wasn’t mistaken, it was the man he had run into in the washrooms the day before. The tall, dark-haired one with the sticking out ears and the blue eyes. The man just let out a deep sigh that drew Arthur closer. 

He carefully neared the spot where the man was sitting and just sat down on the opposite side of the hallway. 

The dark-haired head snapped up. “What is it?”

It sounded endlessly tired. 

“I just passed by and you look as if you could use some company.” Arthur had seen soldiers being all worn out, not knowing what to do and this one just had the same look on his face. 

“Don’t get me wrong, but I’m not good company tonight.” The man had lost his hostility and just looked tired. 

“We don’t have to talk. We can just sit here.” Arthur tried a smile that was just met with an earnest look. 

They sat in silence for quite a while. Sometimes, people started to talk if you didn’t give them the feeling they had to and this situation wasn’t any different. 

“You know…we’re trained to cope with all types of situations…”

Arthur nodded, even though he only had a vague idea what the situation was like. He had only had heard a few small pieces of conversation here and there. 

The man turned his head slightly to look at him again. “It’s a lot more difficult when you get to the point where you have to face them.”

Watching the man, taking in his dark unruly hair that probably defied every attempt to get it into a military-worthy hair-cut, the sticking-out ears – Arthur could only imagine the remarks about how the guy could even put on his helmet – and the blue eyes that had dark circles underneath, Arthur had to keep himself from reaching out and just pulling him in for a hug. He definitely needed a hug, but that was something the Prince of Camelot just couldn’t do. Even squeezing his hand or arm was out of the question. 

There were a few more minutes of silence before the man started to speak again. The story of how he had lost his winchman and his winchOP in two consecutive days poured out and the desperation of what would happen next, if he could continue the mission or had to abort and go back to the base was clearly audible. The feeling of guilt, the constant questioning if he had been up to the challenge as a leader showed on his face.

“Hey,” Arthur called softly. “I haven’t been there, but from what I’ve heard, this was nobody’s fault. Your winchman will be alright, right? That’s what they said in the briefing. Things like these happen. And you are not responsible for the actions your winchOp decided to take. He had the best of intentions, but it was him who got into the fight and thereby endangered the mission after you managed to get a new winchman assigned.”

The guy looked at him and took a breath as if to defend his winchOP, but then closed his mouth again and just let out a sigh. “What do you know about military operations?” It came with a lot less mockery than it had obviously been intended.

“Oh,” Arthur threw him a grin, “a thing or two, I reckon.” He winked and the small smile he got as a response felt good. 

Leon looked up when Mithian wandered into the briefing room. “Is there anything I can help you with?”

She shook her head and threw him a small, tired smile. “I just wanted to check if there was anything new about the weather or anything.”

That didn’t sound too convincing.

“You’re working late.” She continued.

“So are you.” Leon smiled. He didn’t have to explain to her that this was a state of emergency and they all did what they had to do no matter how long it would take and regardless of how little sleep they got. 

She returned the smile. “So, anything new?” 

Shaking his head, Leon pointed to the weather charts he had printed out. “At least it looks like we might get a little breather. Then your part of the mission could be finished soon.”

Mithian made a face. “To be honest, I think we are already finished.”

Leon knew what she meant. “I just got a call…”

Her head snapped around. “Yes?”

“How about we’ll get a tea and you tell me how it went today. Maybe I’ll have more info then and we can talk about keeping your chopper up in the air.”

Merlin had stared at Leon when he had gotten the news and shortly after, his mobile had buzzed and his supervisor was on the phone, updating him on the latest events. 

“With all due respect, Sir, I don’t think that…” Merlin listened to the stream of instructions coming down the line from his Wing Commander, but that didn’t mean he had to like what he heard. They couldn’t fucking mean it? The royal prat a pilot? Assigned to his crew? He had known that the blond had trained with the RAF, of course, who in this country didn’t know? But…a pilot? For Search and Rescue? This was too much of a coincidence! Certainly, because of his status, he had been on the rosters, but never really went through all the training, right? 

“But Sir, how are we supposed to…Yes, Sir, I understand, but it’s not like with Officer Ellerton. She’s an active member of the force, coming here doing her daytime job…” Merlin knew he shouldn’t question the decision that had been made, but couldn’t just stand by, not voicing his concerns. “He retired from the Air Force two years ago!” How could the prince be reinstated and get orders in such a short time? Yes, this was a crisis situation but the prince wasn’t even up to date with anything that concerned flying a helicopter! And no matter how much he liked that little moment of bonding they had the previous night, it still didn’t mean he wanted a rookie on his crew!

“I’ve checked his aviation background myself, Flight Lieutenant Emrys, all you need to do is show him the specifics of your bird. He holds the license to operate this specific type of helicopter. He is trained for missions like these.”

Merlin swallowed. When Kilgharrah called him by his full rank and name he meant business. Obviously, he hadn’t been too happy with the decision either, but couldn’t do anything about it. 

“He’s not all out of the loop, Lieutenant,” his commander said a bit softer now. “Just involve him in the process, take him along when you fly out.”

“With all due respect,” Merlin repeated, “we don’t have time for training flights, Sir.” 

“Emrys, what I’m telling you now is something not everyone needs to know. His Royal Highness has been training every six months since he officially left the service. If he hadn’t, they would only let him come along on an observation flight, not assign him to your crew. Merlin, he knows what he’s doing and your team needs him or else you are out of a crew and therefore grounded.”

Taking a deep breath, Merlin nodded, even though his commander couldn’t see it. “Understood, Commander.”

“Oh, and Lieutenant? I want feedback even before you go to your out-brief when you get back from your first flight with him.”

“Yes, Sir. Understood, Sir.” 

Merlin threw the prince, who had just entered the room dressed in a flight suit, helmet at his side, a look. He was more than confused about the man now. In the past days, when he was flying, he could shove him out of his thoughts and concentrate on the task at hand. Now, he would be part of the task and around him basically at every hour of the day. 

“Flight Lieutenant Pendragon reporting for duty, Sir.” 

The prince’s composure was immaculate, only the chin that he had lifted challengingly and the sparkle in his eyes showed how much he was enjoying the situation. 

When Merlin took his time putting his mobile away, the prince just waited. “So…Flight Lieutenant…” Merlin immediately had recognized the insignia when the other had entered the room and knew that they held the same rank. This looked like there were fun times were ahead. He checked the other’s flight suit for a name. “Camelot…”

“With all due respect, I’d prefer Pendragon, Sir. This was a joke from my comrades as a parting gift. They exchanged the name tags on all my uniforms and they couldn’t be redone on such short notice.”

Oh, this would be more fun that Merlin had initially thought. “Your uniform says Camelot, so your name is Camelot, Flight Lieutenant.” He looked the prince in the eye and didn’t even blink. He had a hard time not bursting out laughing, though. 

“Understood.” 

If it bothered the prince, he didn’t show. Then again, he could choose from a few titles and names that he could use as last names if required and Camelot was one of them. So there was nothing officially wrong with calling him that. Especially if his name tag said so. 

While he was on the phone with Kilgharrah, Merlin had pondered giving the prince a little speech to make it clear who was in charge and what would happen, but dismissed the idea now. It was more important to see what Camelot could or couldn’t do. With a bit of luck, they would have a calm flight, only checking that they had gotten everybody out of the flooded area and Merlin could keep an eye on the new crew member and bring him up to date with everything. He still wasn’t happy with the new addition, but he had to deal with it and make the best out of the situation.

“Let’s go.”

As Arthur followed Merlin down the corridor, for a short moment, he admired the view. Nobody actually looked good in a flight suit, but Merlin somehow managed to pull the look off and who was he to not appreciate what he was seeing?

He was a bit nervous, too. Officially, he had retired from the military two years ago. He loved flying, though, and since father had never liked him being a pilot, he had made arrangements to train with his old unit at least twice a year. After talking to Merlin in the corridor the last night, he had made a call and Elyan had pulled a few strings for him to be able to be put on active duty at such short notice and here he was, assigned to one of the best pilots the Royal Albion Air Force had seen in a while. 

Even though he had pretended not to know who Merlin was, he had heard of him and now he would be flying with him. He was keen on finding out what the man did to earn himself the nickname ‘Wizard’ and as Merlin didn’t seem to be thrilled about having to deal with him, he was eager to show him what he could do. He wasn’t just additional baggage, here to enjoy the scenery. He had come here to help and he would do everything he could to be a valuable member of the helicopter crew.

“So, here she is.” Merlin sounded very proud when they neared the chopper.

Arthur nodded and as Flight Lieutenant Ellerton just dismounted the vessel, he wasn’t sure if Merlin meant the helicopter or the wingman.

“Lieutenant, may I introduce our newest crew member to you? This is Flight Lieutenant Camelot, he’s been assigned to us this morning, so we are taking him for a quick tour now to familiarize him with the Lady.”

He didn’t quite manage to not flinch at the repeated use of ‘Camelot’ but nodded at the woman. “Nice meeting you,” he nodded again, needing a moment to readjust back from the protocol of the palace.

“Welcome to the team, Lieutenant.” Mithian greeted him and then turned back to Merlin to give him an update on what she had already checked and that she was good to go. 

Merlin seemed to be pleased when he noticed that Mithian had not only checked her own gear, but had also cleaned the front windows and made sure the extra seats were neat and clean in case they had to pick up more people. 

Arthur followed Merlin around the chopper and listened to him explaining about the specifics of the Lady. Once in a while, he asked a question and was more than ready when Merlin decided they finally needed to get on board and into the air. 

Merlin was in his element. He could talk about what he liked best: Flying and his helicopter. Of course it wasn’t his helicopter, but it was the one he was responsible for, the one he knew best and they weren’t wrong when they said that pilots usually had a special relationship with their aircrafts. 

He watched Arthur closely, entering the flight deck, going through the pre-flight procedures. It actually looked like Camelot knew what he was doing. So maybe this wouldn’t be a failure after all?

When he had clearance to take-off, he gently lifted the Lady off the football field and turned her into the direction of the area they were to inspect. It was more of an observation flight than anything else. The rain had finally stopped and all they needed to do was to make sure that there wasn’t anyone still stranded on the top of their roofs or anywhere else visible in the air. At least Merlin hoped that they would come back to report that they had gotten everybody out. 

“Anything back there, Ellerton?” He didn’t have to ask, he knew. Mithy would report immediately if something caught her attention. It was just good to keep up the communication.

“Negative, Sir.”

“Then it’s probably time to let Camelot show us what he can do and see ifhe can actually drive the Lady, don’t you think?” The area they were flying over was still a disaster, water everywhere, making it inaccessible for trucks and cars, debris floating by, but the wind wasn’t too bad and it didn’t look like there were still people trapped anywhere. Merlin was prepared to take control back immediately if Arthur screwed up. And he fully expected him to do that. What he had shown so far told him that the prince was indeed trained and hadn’t neglected his skills since he retired. That didn’t mean he would let him get the Lady in trouble, though. 

“Let me check my seat belt again, Sir.” Mithian’s voice came over the headphone in his helmet and he laughed with her. 

“Ready?”

“Ready!” She said, knowing fully well that Arthur could hear them, too.

“Ready, Camelot?” Merlin tried to bite back a grin. It was funny to see the prince not being able to hold back his reaction to the name.

“Ready, Sir.”

“Then here you go.” Merlin let go of the controls and to his surprise, Arthur just took over as if they had practiced this manoeuvre over and over.

Every helicopter of the same type had the same features but like with cars, every single one of them had their own little quirks that were all part of their charm. Arthur pointed out the obvious ones within ten minutes of flight and Merlin was impressed. If push came to shove, maybe the prince could really be part of the team. 

Merlin couldn’t help but notice the way Arthur had straightened up the moment he took over. The way he radiated how much he loved flying and how focussed he was on the task at hand. This definitely wasn’t a scenic tour of the country, the prince was actually working and so far, he even seemed to be good at the job. Merlin couldn’t help but admire that the man didn’t just sit back in the palace and let others do everything for him, but stayed on top of the profession he had learned and took pride in doing so. 

“Lieutenant?” Mithy’s voice came over the speaker in his helmet again. She gave him the direction in which she thought she had seen something. 

Arthur turned the helicopter in that direction without being ordered to. 

“I have control.” Merlin said and took over. If Mithy was right then this was no longer an observation tour, Arthur would have to show how good he really was in replacing Percy. At least he didn’t argue, which was a relief. 

As they neared the area, Merlin saw that Mithy had been right. There was a single person on a roof, waving their arms as they came closer. Immediately, he gave orders for Mithy and Arthur to get ready. Before he had started speaking, both of them had sprung into action, though. He heard Mithy giving Arthur a few additional instructions, him answering some of the questions she had asked to see if he knew what she was talking about and then tried to tune the two out. With Gwaine and Percy, he could do that easily. They knew what they were doing and Merlin didn’t need to worry. On the first flight with Mithian, he managed to do it after a few moments, knowing that Percy was in control of everything that was going on in the back of the helicopter and that Mithy was good at her job. 

The situation was different now. It was always difficult if the winchman was the one in control as the senior officer and it was only their first time out with the new winchOP. Maybe they should have exchanged the roles, Merlin thought for a second but then dismissed it as it made more sense to have Arthur as the operator. He had more strength to pull the exhausted people inside. 

Merlin manoeuvred the helicopter into the right position, guided by Mithian’s instructions and then held the Lady steady so the winch crew could take over. The usual feeling he had in situations like these took over and it was almost like he was one with the machine and the elements. Still, he didn’t allow himself to fully fall into the zone, he needed to keep an ear open to know what his crew was doing. He would abort the mission immediately if he noticed that Arthur couldn’t cope with it. 

He was tense, but then noticed he needn’t have worried. Arthur exercised the procedures as if he had been doing them every day. He communicated the right things, gave the correct information, never gave Mithy the feeling she was on her own, dangling in a harness from a helicopter. They managed to gently set her down on the roof and Merlin could hear her talking the woman through the process of putting on the harness, helping where she needed help, explaining what would happen next. 

When Mithy gave them the sign, Arthur announced the starting of the winch. That was vital information for the pilot as it would change the balance of the helicopter. Merlin felt the exact moment it started and steadied the Lady. Soon after – time always seemed to move slower when they were hauling someone up, so it felt like a lot longer – Mithy and the woman were on board. 

“Crewmember and passenger secured.” Arthur announced as he closed the door.

That was the sign for Merlin that he could take them back.

When the Lady touched down on the football field again, the frightened woman, whose teeth had been clattering all the time, was led away by the medical team right away and Merlin and his crew did the post-landing checks. 

Leon was on the phone again when Mithian knocked against the doorframe. He waved her in. This was a room open to everyone involved in the operation, there was no need to knock and wait for permission, but Leon had learned in similar situations like these that military people were different. It also showed him that she was here in her function as helicopter crew, not as a private person, like last night. He smiled at her and gestured to a chair, but she just smiled back and shook her head, turning to study all the new memos and charts that he had put up on the wall. 

Finally, he ended the call. “Let me note this down first, then I’m all yours.”

She chuckled and Leon really liked it. It was a sound he heard too rarely when he was working. People were so worried and worn-out that they had no energy left or nothing to laugh about, so it was refreshing that Lieutenant Ellerton was able to keep her good mood. 

“What can I do for you?” He looked up.

Mithian turned around and turned serious again. “Merlin and Arthur…” She caught herself and cleared her throat. “The doctor and his team took over the patient. Flight Lieutenants Emrys and Pendragon are securing the helicopter and will be in momentarily.” She reported in the voice Leon was used to from military personnel. 

“I figured that much from what Merlin reported back already. I assume he will talk to his commander before he comes in for the de-briefing?”

The grin was back on her face as she nodded. “I think so, too.”

“Then we have a few moments…how was it?”

When Leon sat down at his desk, Mithian leaned against a table and started recounting their tour.

When Merlin pocketed his mobile, he had mixed feelings. Part of him was so happy that the flight had been such a success and that he could report back to his commander that Flight Lieutenant Pendragon was a fully functioning member of his crew. The other part was just confused. Why hadn’t the prat told him that he was a pilot, too? Why had he pretended to have no idea about the situation when they had talked in the corridor? And how on earth could he have fallen apart like that, spilling his guts out to a total stranger, a royal one on top of that? 

He appreciated that the prince had been able to keep the private things and the professional part of their relationship apart. Relationship? They didn’t have a relationship. They had been flying together today, nothing more, nothing less. 

But Arthur had been good. He had not only handled the Lady with the utmost respect, he had done the right things at the right time and worked perfectly as part of the winch crew. Merlin made a mental note to once again praise their efforts at the briefing. Everyone needed to know that they were working with dedicated professionals. 

And that was what he needed to be now, too. As Merlin entered the briefing room, Leon had already established a video conference with the organisation he was working for and the command. It looked as if they had all just been waiting for him. 

After he had said for everyone to hear that he was flying with the best crew he could get and point out that the circumstances were tough but they had done their job as the pros they are, went beyond any expectations and worked together as a great team, they had gotten the latest overview reports and outlooks for the next days. Merlin and his crew were ordered to stay and continue their flights until the ground crews were able to reach places with vehicles. 

The briefing was finally over and Merlin took a deep breath. He hadn’t even noticed how tense he had been all day long. 

“Merlin, what’s up next?” Mithy was beaming at him. 

“The evening is yours.” He grinned. “Just do me a favour? Stay out of trouble?”

She laughed. “Doing my very best, Sir.”

“Is there a computer I can use?” Arthur stepped up to them. “I’d like to read up on the technical specifications of the Lady.”

Merlin swallowed. Usually, he didn’t like if someone who was basically a stranger referred to his Lady as Lady, but just as he hadn’t minded Arthur flying her, he noticed he didn’t mind that he called the chopper by its nickname. “As much as I appreciate your enthusiasm, I think we should all get a bite to eat. If you are still up to a bit of reading, you can use my laptop later.”

Mithian beamed. “Yup, I’m kind of hungry now. I have to get rid of my helmet and change out of my flight suit. Meet you at the cafeteria?”

Nodding, Arthur followed her. “Good idea. See you there in twenty?”

Silently, they made their way in the same direction.

Arthur was still full of adrenaline. He hadn’t expected to actually have to be a winchOP on his first flight with the new crew and was surprised that Merlin had let him take control of the helicopter. Even though he had tried to keep up with his training, he knew he couldn’t be good as someone who trained those procedures and manoeuvres every day. He was rather content with how his training had just taken over and he didn’t have to think about what to do and when to say what. It had all come back the moment he had stepped onto the helicopter and that they had actually rescued someone was just the cherry on top. 

He had already texted Elyan to follow up on the woman and make sure she had everything she needed for the moment. 

When he had started out in the military, he hadn’t understood the pilots and the air of snobbishness that surrounded them. The further he got in his training and especially when he finally got his license and flew his first own mission he understood that they weren’t snobs at all. They were skilled professionals who took pride in what they were doing and satisfaction out of every well-performed mission. The same pride and satisfaction he felt now. 

In the beginning, he had watched Merlin closely. The guy was quite sexy when he was in flight mode, all focussed and no nonsense. He was a great pilot and the way he had held the helicopter calmly in the air while Mithian was out there, hauling the woman up, was remarkable. Arthur had experienced a lot worse. 

Arthur couldn’t categorise his feelings about him, though. On one hand, he was pretty smug that he had shown the unit’s pride that he wasn’t an incapable leech who had just made it that far in the military because of his daddy’s name and a title he was born into. On the other hand, he started to like the man. It wasn’t just his good looks; Merlin seemed to be someone with a good head on his shoulders as well and he could admit that he was wrong and appreciate the good job they had done today. 

He took a quick shower and when he stepped into the cafeteria dressed in jeans and a t-shirt a while later, Merlin was already there. He nodded at him and went to get a tray with whatever food the ladies had come up with. Arthur hoped he had shown them that he wasn’t picky and wouldn’t make a fuss. And yet he hoped, they wouldn’t serve broccoli; broccoli and he were long-time enemies. 

“Is this seat taken?” He stood opposite to where Merlin sat and grinned. 

When Merlin gestured for him to take sit down, Arthur did so and busied himself with his paper napkin and the fork while Merlin was still on the phone. 

“That’s good news….No, that’s alright, take your time…” Merlin smiled and that smile touched something inside Arthur. “Yes, he was alright….” Merlin looked up. “Yes, alright…” He chuckled at the caller. “Yup, he’s here. Sitting right across the table.”

Arthur smiled politely. 

“No, Gwaine, I will NOT tell him that!...No!...I have to go now. Bye.” Without waiting for a response, Merlin hung up. “Sorry about that.”

“How is your crew member?” Arthur tried the stew and wondered how the kitchen crew was able to make something this tasty. 

“Percy’s nose is still broken and Gwaine’s up to no good. Same old, I’d say.”

“Which means he’s feeling better?” 

“Either that or he’s still doped up. Then again, he’d flirt with anything at any given time, so it’s difficult to tell.” Merlin took a sip from his water. 

Arthur looked down at his food. “And what was that you were supposed to tell me?” He tried to sound all casual.

Mithian put her tray down next to Merlin’s seat and slid in the chair. “Most likely something about your gorgeous face or your hot arse.” She offered nonchalantly. 

Merlin choked on his stew. “Mithy!”

“So I was right?” She beamed. “Everyone who ever met Gwaine Green knows that these are the most likely things he said.”

Arthur couldn’t help the slight blush he felt on his cheeks and chuckled. “He must be quite the character.” 

“Oh, he is.” Mithy bit into a slice of toast and nodded before she steered the conversation somewhere else. 

Not knowing if he should just grin about the remarks of a man he had never met or be a bit sad that Merlin hadn’t said those words, Arthur happily agreed withMithian’s statements about the organisation of the shelter and the people she had met already. 

Leon hurried down the corridor. This wasn’t good, this wasn’t good at all! It was exactly what they had feared when they had first learned that the prince was on his way to their shelter. There might only have been the palace’s photographer around that first day but of course the press had gotten wind of Arthur – His Royal Highness, Leon corrected himself – having returned and was still there. 

It had only been a matter of time. The prince had willingly taken selfies with anyone who wanted one – even though Leon was pretty sure this was against protocol - and his first day in the kitchen garb had made its way onto the internet faster than anyone could say ‘Twitter’. It was actually a miracle that they hadn’t been found out sooner. Now, they stood out on the street, besieging them. Some had even tried to get inside to interview the people stranded here and for a chance to get a glimpse of the prince of course.

He wasn’t ready for something like this. Should he run out and try to talk to them? Make them understand that those affected by the flood needed every bit of privacy the shelter could provide, maybe make an appeal live on some camera for people to donate? Or would they just laugh at him and not leave at all, trying to get info on Arthur out of him? 

It was funny. Two days ago, the man had been a stranger, someone you knew from the papers and the gossip in the tabloids. There were official photos and if you were into the monarchy, you were probably even actively seeking news about him. Within the last 48 hours, His Royal Highness had changed into Arthur, the man who had volunteered to take out the trash and had done everything he could to complete a helicopter crew that had been torn apart by unfortunate circumstances. It was weird how someone who was basically just a character on TV had turned into a human being. 

“Leon!” Elyan came from the other side, his mobile pressed against his ear. “Wait!”

Slowing his steps, Leon was very happy that Elyan was here. He would know what the protocol allowed them to do and what they would have to do to keep the folks here safe and make sure that Arthur was secure and have the freedom to do what he wanted to do.

Elyan ended his call. “I have called the police. They should deal with it for now.”

“For now?” Leon made a face. “I’m sure they have enough to do, they can’t play bodyguard for one of our helicopter crews.”

“I made arrangements for that, too. His Royal Highness might not like it, but the palace will send security.” Elyan nodded. 

It seemed to be weird that the man who was closest to the prince, basically being at his side for the larger part of the day, still addressed him so formally. It was hard to imagine that Arthur, who was so open and approachable for everyone else would even insist on it.

“Prince Arthur wants to address them directly, though.”

Leon frowned. “Do you think that’s a good idea?”

“No, it isn’t.” Elyan smiled wryly. “But have you ever tried stopping him from doing anything? Especially if it will rile up his father?” The smile slid of Elyan’s face immediately. Obviously he had revealed something he shouldn’t have. 

“I can imagine that it couldn’t have been easy growing up in the palace, always in the eye of the public, especially with a father as strict as King Uther.” Leon offered. 

Elyan sent him a grateful smile but didn’t react further. “The police are here, we should talk to them.”

Merlin stood with a few others inside the building as Arthur had stepped outside to talk to the press. He had never given much thought about how difficult it must be being a public figure. Especially when you had no other choice. Most everybody who was in the limelight was there because they had chosen to be; politicians, actors, whatever they were. Arthur had been born into the spotlight, he only there because of who his parents were, with no chance of ever quitting. That couldn’t be easy. 

They had still been at the cafeteria, joking about Mithian putting four cubes of sugar into her tea and still having room for a gigantic cookie and Merlin had honestly forgotten that he was sitting at the table with someone from the Royal family. It was just Arthur, a member of his crew, a comrade he flew a mission with. And then Arthur’s mobile had buzzed and he had let out a series of very un-royal curses as he got up and paced the room.

“The pest has found me.” He announced when he came back to the table. “The press.” He clarified when he noticed the clueless faces of Mithian and Merlin. “I need to go out there and make a statement.”

“You don’t have to. I’m sure Leon already called the police.” Mithian frowned. 

“They will come back. I need to make them see that they need to leave us alone, so we can do our job.” Arthur pocketed his mobile and just stood there for a moment. 

Merlin got up. “Are you sure about this? Can’t the palace handle it for you?” It had only taken seconds for Arthur to become the Prince again, so why not use this power, make a few calls and let them take over. They had to be good for something, right?

Arthur shook his head. “I’m sure Elyan involved them already, but if I go out there and make a short statement, it might give them what they want and make it easier for the authorities.”

“Will you have to leave us, now that they found you?” Mithian looked less than enthusiastic.

“That would be desertion, Mithy. He got reenlisted, he can’t just walk out.” Merlin looked stubborn. As much as he had fought the idea of having Arthur on his crew, he didn’t want to let him go now. “Maybe I should go out there and tell them as much.”

“No.” Arthur gave him a grim smile. “This is my fight and I will fight it. It’s my fault that they descended upon this place, I need to make sure they leave.”

Mithian got up. “We’ll have your back.”

That being said, they made their way through the school and when they reached the front door, Arthur had a quick conversation with Elyan to find out what the situation really was and then stepped out onto the front steps.

Merlin felt Mithian at his side when they listened to what Arthur said. It was quite fascinating that he had switched back fully into the Prince of Camelot, heir to the throne of Albion. It was interesting to see how he had changed from just-changed-out-of-flight-suit-into-jeans-and-t-shirt into jeans-and-t-shirt-wearing future king of the United Kingdoms. The authority he was radiating, the quiet calm and class he showed without even needing to change into better clothes was amazing. It was as if Arthur had slipped on the invisible suit of royal-ness. Whatever that was. Merlin blinked back into reality. 

“…to leave them alone and let us do our work. If you want to help, please donate to the Red Cross or The Flood or turn to a shelter near you to see what they need. Thank you.” Arthur nodded shortly, turned around and entered the building again. There, he let out a breath. 

“There were so many cameras, Sir, this will be on TV in no time.” It didn’t show if Elyan was happy about it or not. “Security from the palace is going to arrive shortly. They will ensure the safety of everyone.”

Again, Arthur nodded. “Do you think they still have a tea for me at the cafeteria?” 

Merlin smiled. “Let’s go find out.”

They hadn’t spoken much when they had sipped their teas. It had been obvious that Arthur wasn’t delighted that the press had found him and now everybody knew where he was. Then again, he had known that his presence here wasn’t a secret. There were too many people involved and in the days of modern communication, his face had been all over the internet two days ago. Actually, it surprised him that they hadn’t had to face this situation sooner. 

After that, he had spoken with Elyan again and when he got the info that the palace’s security was in place, he had more or less ordered Elyan to go and get some sleep. He made a mental note to thank every single one of the men for this extra duty once this was over. 

As he lay on his cot, he felt endlessly tired. Usually, his days were structured up to a point where he had only forty minutes in the gym or ten minutes to read a book and yet there wasn’t much excitement in them unless he got into another fight with father. He enjoyed his time away from the palace and getting to do something really useful was exciting enough. He hated that the incident with the press had happened. It had interrupted a real moment of bonding with his new crew. 

Arthur knew that his time as a crew member would be limited. As soon as this was over and the helicopters were ordered back to the bases, he would take his leave again, having to slip back into the boring life in the castle. It just felt good to be around people who found out that he could do more than just sit on an ancient sofa all day long, stuffing his face with scones. Or whatever Merlin had thought he did with his time. 

Merlin. Arthur smiled. As unfortunate as it was that this poor woman had still been stuck on her roof, Arthur was happy that he managed to show Merlin that he wasn’t the useless slob he had thought he was. In the cafeteria it had felt as if Merlin could become a good friend. Especially when he had offered to protect him from the press people. That was more than he could have expected from a team leader as it had nothing to do with the job. 

He couldn’t help it, the man stirred feelings inside him that Arthur had believed were dead. Not only was he a looker, he was intelligent and had a sharp tongue. And it wasn’t beyond him to change his mind when he found out he had been wrong. At college, Merlin would have been just the man he would have gone after. If he were honest, Merlin was just his type. After a little daydream about him, Arthur shook his head. They were here to do a job. This wasn’t the time to flirt. It was inappropriate as Merlin was his superior now and he didn’t even know if Merlin was into men at all. 

After a bit of tossing and turning, he fell asleep. 

The next day was rather uneventful – measured by the few days before – and all they had to do was to check the area. They didn’t find anyone but as the wind picked up again, Arthur was able to witness Merlin’s ability to fly on instinct and was impressed. It was like he felt what the weather around them would do and was one with his machine. 

When they came back, debriefed and had gotten some food, Arthur decided it was time to interact with the people again. They needed to see that his presence wasn’t just a publicity stunt. So he talked to some of them, drew with the children and played some more football with them. 

Finally, he decided it was enough for the day. If he could find a computer, he would read up on the Lady as he had planned to do the night before. He could barely use the one in Leon’s office; that was needed to keep the place running. Hadn’t Merlin offered his own?

Taking a deep breath, he knocked at Merlin’s door. 

It took a moment before Merlin opened and Arthur held his breath. Obviously, he had just taken a shower and even though he was in sweatpants, he was in the middle of pulling a t-shirt down, his still-wet hair all over the place. “Arthur?”

“Yes, errm…I wondered if I could use your laptop for a moment.” He smiled encouragingly. “I wanted to brush up my knowledge about the Lady.”

“Oh…alright, sure.” Merlin opened the door to let him step in. 

“If you hate royalty so much, why did you join the CRAF?” Arthur sipped his tea and tried to get comfy on one of the smaller chairs. 

Merlin, who was sitting on his cot, his back to the wall, blew out a deep breath. “I don’t hate royalty. Up until now, I just thought all you ever did was laze around trying to look good in public without doing anything at all.”

“Up until now?” Arthur grinned.

“You showed me that I was wrong.” Merlin admitted freely and shrugged. “I didn’t even know you were a real pilot.”

“I received the same training as you did. While you’re a natural, I had to work at it.”

Merlin chuckled. “Don’t believe I didn’t have to work. I get up at the same time of day than all the others, I do my PT, I go through all the mandatory trainings and medical checks. Just because I’m not bad at flying a helicopter doesn’t mean they serve me breakfast in bed.”

“That’s not what I meant. You’re just…well, just amazing. I have never flown with anyone who held a helicopter so steadily in the air in a weather like this and I’ve flown with lots of other pilots.” 

Shrugging, Merlin looked down into his tea mug. “Maybe that was the reason I joined the Albion Air Force in the first place. I knew what I wanted to do, always felt that I could be good at it.” He looked up again. “I could never have afforded the training and all the classes that come with getting and keeping your license, so this was the only option.”

“Your parents couldn’t help?” Arthur knew he shouldn’t have asked, it was none of his business.

Merlin smiled. “My mam brought me up to be able to make it on my own. We never had much money.”

“Oh.”

Shaking his head, Merlin’s fond smile got wider. “I didn’t miss out on anything growing up. There was always enough food on the table and clean clothes to wear, we had a roof over our heads and had each other. Our friends are our family.”

That was quite different from what Arthur had experienced as a child, being shoved from nanny to nanny, never really having a good relationship with his father, who had expectations he could never live up to. He had all the riches in the world but had been a very lonely boy. What Merlin told him now about his childhood sounded a lot more desirable than what he had had. 

“You still don’t really seem to be a military man.”

Merlin chuckled. “That’s why I went for the SAR team. I still have to go to the ranges to qualify twice a year, but I’d rather get people out of tricky situations than shoot at them.” 

“I don’t know anyone who likes that.” During his time in the military, he had been in a crisis area, there had been fightings and his unit had lost people. 

They sat in silence for a while. 

“What are you going to do when they don’t let you fly anymore?”

Merlin shrugged. “I think it works more along the line of me being promoted one day and getting to a rank where they see me fit for other tasks.”

Laughing, Arthur threw his head back. “That was a ‘they might, but I’m going to fight it with everything I have as long as possible’ if I ever heard one.” He grew serious again. “Have you ever thought about retiring and getting a job as a pilot somewhere else? Probably start your own company?”

Taking another sip of his tea, Merlin shook his head slightly. “I have another eight years before I can even think about retiring. And who knows what the market will need then? To start a company I’d have to be able to buy my own helicopter.” He shook his head again. “Not likely.”

“It was just an idea. It’s what I would have done if I had a choice.”

Merlin laughed. “You make it sound like a hardship but you never have to worry about what tomorrow brings, when you have to put everything aside you can spare because you don’t know what the future holds. Look at Gwaine. He tore up his leg. If he is very lucky, he will heal up okay and stay in the Force. If it doesn’t, he’ll be medically retired and that would be that. He’d have to find a whole new life, one he isn’t used to. You can just lean back because you know that your money will come in and you will always have the best food on your table.” 

Arthur listened closely. When Merlin stopped talking, he looked as if he’d said things he wasn’t supposed to say. But he was right. Even if Arthur decided to never work a single day in his life – which wasn’t possible, there were duties he had to perform – he wouldn’t have to worry about all these things. If an accident like Gwaine’s happened, he would be treated by the best doctors in the world and not have to worry about a change of career. What he had viewed as a golden cage also brought a lot of security along that other people didn’t have. 

“But you’re not like that,” Merlin continued. “I’m sorry for snapping at you when we first met. You’re different from the picture of you that I had in my mind. You actually try to do something, to make a difference, not just sit on your arse and pretend you’re better than everyone else.”

Chuckling at that, Arthur bowed his head towards Merlin. “At least that’s what I try to do.”

“I’m not sure I could do that.”

“Make a difference? You do. Every day of your life. You go out there, get yourself and your crew in danger to save others.”

“That’s not what I meant.” Merlin shook his head slightly. “That speech you gave to the paparazzi; that was quite impressive. And aside from the extra security we got, it made them leave. You managed to give them a tiny bit of what they wanted and also made enough of an impression to get them to move. And it wasn’t even a scripted speech…”

Arthur smiled. “That’s what I’ve been trained to do all of my life. My first official photo was published when I was six months old. Ever since then, I’ve been dealing with the press. I got a lot of chances to practice what they taught me in endless lessons.”

“I can’t even imagine what that feels like. Most likely, I would have gotten angry and shouted at them. Must be difficult to always be watched.”

“You find your little niches and there’s ways to avoid the public eye.” Arthur didn’t know any different. It was his life, one that probably nobody else could relate to. 

“Doesn’t that make it difficult to just go out for a burger or something?”

Arthur laughed. “I can’t just stop and walk into a McDonald’s, that’s true. It doesn’t mean I can’t order food in.” He winked. “Elyan has enough people to pick the food up and bring it in, so nobody knows that I will be the one to eat it.”

Merlin grinned widely and that made his eyes crinkle into little half-moons, a look that Arthur found utterly stunning. 

“That will make the future Queen quite happy. She won’t have to cook for you every day, if you are content with a burger from the take-away counter. Then again, she won’t have to cook anyways, right? You have people doing that for you.”

Throwing Merlin a long look, Arthur didn’t really know what to say. Of course, the public waited for him to introduce a woman at his side, to get married, settle down and produce a few children. It just wasn’t like this. If he couldn’t change things when he became king, he would be the last of the house of Pendragon. All the beautiful women that were seen in the tabloids in his company were just a decoy. Arthur had found out long ago that he preferred men. 

“It’s still nice when someone cares enough to cook for you.” He said quietly and then looked up. “Do you cook?”

Merlin threw him a little confused look before he grinned again. “Of course I do. That’s one of the benefits of growing up with a single mother. You learn how to feed yourself pretty quickly and since she had no girl to share all her wonderful recipes with, I know them all.” 

Arthur smiled.

“Oh, hey…was that a challenge? Did you just invite yourself over?” Merlin laughed. “I have to warn you, I’m living on base. It’s not bad, but it’s not like having your own mansion with a big lawn or something. It’s just a small row house.”

“So you wouldn’t mind me coming over?” Arthur teased but his heart was beating a bit faster. He wouldn’t mind spending more time with Merlin after this mission was over.

“What’s your favourite food?” Merlin winked.

Merlin ran down the hallway, pulling the zipper of his flight suit up. When Arthur was over last night, they had forgotten the time, talking half of the night away before they decided to get some sleep. Of course, this was the night where the call came in that one of the bigger choppers, the Chinook, had found people still stranded. And of course, this was the night, the storm had picked up again. Would this stupid weather ever change its mind? It was almost like some evil witch had thrown a curse at this part of the country. Just as they thought the water was receding, the wind pushed it back in again. The crew had picked up all the people it could carry, but there were still some left, including one crew-member who had stayed back with them. This was where the Lady and her crew came in. 

He had hammered on Arthur’s and Mithian’s doors, shouted a few orders and was already on the way to Leon’s office. Sometimes he wondered if the man even slept at all. The lights always seemed to be on in the room they called their headquarters and it seemed like Leon was always there. 

Leon gave him all the additional information he needed and when Merlin finally made it to the Lady, Arthur and Mithy were already there and got her ready to start. 

They went through the pre-flight checks as quickly as possible. 

“Everybody buckled in?” Merlin knew that he didn’t have to ask, but they were all tense and it might lighten the mood if he threw in some meaningless chatter while they still had time. 

“Ready, Sir.” Mithian’s voice sounded in his helmet.

“Aye, Sir.” Arthur threw him a quick look and nodded.

The wind was a lot heavier than on any other of the flights he had done since the flooding had started. It was nothing that he and his helicopter couldn’t handle, but it made the actual rescuing a lot more difficult. People were scared, they had probably waited for days, they were weak and cold, probably wet, there was no way of predicting how they would react when they were in a harness and hauled up to an actual flying helicopter. 

A few days ago, Merlin would have worried about the new crew and that they hadn’t gotten much training together. He didn’t worry now. It still wasn’t the same situation as when he was flying with Gwaine and Percy, but he knew what Mithy and Arthur could do and with an additional crew member on the ground, Merlin knew they were fit for the job. 

“I see them.” Arthur pointed. 

“You’re right.” Merlin steered the helicopter towards the house and was surprised to find another six people on the roof. How many had there been that the big chopper had to leave so many behind? “Not sure if we can get them all on this round, though.”

The moment, Merlin approached the building, Arthur was out of his seat and in the back, helping Mithy securing herself and then let her down to the waiting crowd. 

The communication worked perfectly, the crew member waiting with the people doing his part and even though the men were exhausted and some of them had minor injuries, it wasn’t a big deal to haul them up into the helicopter. 

Merlin was in the zone again. He felt the elements around them and reacted instinctively to the changes, managing to hold the Lady steady and when he had to make little corrections that could be felt by crew and passengers, he announced them to avoid more scare. He radioed back to the HQ that the Lady wasn’t big enough for everyone and they would have to come back to get the rest of the people out. 

“Langston is injured, we need to get him out of here, too!” Mithian yelled against the noise of the helicopter. She just entered the chopper again with a teenage boy who just looked haunted and didn’t react much. “Let me down again, then haul him up. I’ll stay with the other man until you’re back!”

He couldn’t turn to see what they were doing back there, so Merlin had to trust Mithian on what she said.

“No, you’re exhausted. I’m going.” That was Arthur’s voice. 

“Camelot, we can’t risk that. It’s Ellerton’s job, let her do it.” Merlin knew that Arthur was probably right. Mithian had strength and knew her job, but they all were exhausted and she had been down there four times already. 

“With all due respect, Lieutenant, Ellerton is bleeding, she can’t go down there again.” 

Merlin just heard the voices in his helmet. He couldn’t go check on Mithian, no matter how badly he wanted to. 

“No biggie, it’s just a scratch!”

“One bad enough to rip the sleeve of your flight suit. I’m going.” Arthur insisted.

Merlin took a deep breath. “Alright.”

There were some noises while they exchanged the harness and fit it to Arthur and then Mithian took over the winch and they set down Arthur on the roof as gently as possible. Arthur gave a few instructions and in no time, the injured crew member was on his way up to the helicopter. 

Arthur gave them a thumbs-up and when Mithian had closed the door, Merlin turned the Lady to get back to their landing spot as soon as possible.

They didn’t talk on the way back. Merlin wasn’t sure if he had done the right thing. He knew it was the right thing to swap an injured crew member with, but…he had left the prince of the kingdom out there on his own. The future king of the country was stuck on the top of a building in the flooded area with a total stranger in the middle of a storm. Merlin knew this wouldn’t go down well with his chain of command. And it didn’t go down well with himself either. He had a weird feeling in the pit of his stomach. Technically, he had done nothing wrong, it was even by the book, but he didn’t like leaving Arthur behind. He had to do all he could to get him out. 

“Ellerton, are you up to getting the rest of them out of there?” Merlin didn’t shut the Lady off when they landed and the medical crew and volunteers guided the people into the building and took care of Langston. 

“As I said, Sir, it’s just a scratch. Nothing that would keep me from doing my job and getting my crew back.” 

Merlin nodded and as soon as everybody was inside the building, Mithian closed the doors of the helicopter again, he lifted them off the ground and they were on their way back to where they had left the remaining two.

The wind had picked up yet again and it would be difficult to get the harnesses down to Arthur in the first place. Without the weight of a winchman and in these weather conditions, it was impossible to predict what they would do. More than once they had become projectiles and injured people in similar situations, so this manoeuvre was dangerous and something only to be executed when no other options were available. 

“Finally you’re back! Started to get a little chilly out here.”

Merlin almost laughed when they were close enough to communicate again and they heard Arthur’s voice. “We thought we’d take a little scenic tour first. Ellerton has never been in this part of the country.”

While Arthur laughed and told them to hurry up – not for his sake but because Jake, the man who was still left, started getting a bit allergic to water – Mithian let down the harnesses and the banter died down. There were only the instructions on getting them down as precisely as possible. 

Merlin could have closed his eyes and just felt the wind and listened to the spoken words and kept the helicopter in the air. He felt the Lady fighting with the elements and in his mind, he had a full conversation with the chopper to encourage her and praise her for the great job she was doing, telling her how important it was and that she would get a break and a complete maintenance check when the mission was over. He sensed when Mithian started the winch moments before she announced it and balanced them out while Arthur and the man were dangling from the Lady. 

“Damn, you’re heavy!” 

Mithian’s grunted remark let Merlin snap back into reality. 

“Are you saying I’m fat?” Arthur complained, a bit out of breath. 

“No, just heavy!”

“If you two could stop the flirting for a moment and tell me if we can leave?” Merlin interrupted the banter. He couldn’t help but grin. This was what a real crew sounded like. No matter how dangerous the situation was, the moment they were all safe, they teased each other and made funny remarks. 

“Take her home, Sir!”

“He did what?” Gwen stared at Lance.

“Arthur stayed with the last remaining person and waited for the helicopter to come back.” Lance didn’t even look up as he cleaned Mithian’s wound. 

“That’s not what I mean. Merlin left the Prince behind?” 

“No. He left his WinchOP behind to get an injured person into medical care as quickly as possible. Then he turned around to get his own crew member out.” Mithian explained. “A perfectly normal procedure.”

“It’s normal to leave someone of the royal family in danger?” Gwen looked from Mithian to Lance and back. 

“It is normal to decide what to do when you are in a situation. I wanted to stay, but Arthur was right. This is just a scratch, but it might have limited me in doing my job on the ground.”

Lance’s face showed that it was more than ‘just a scratch’, even though no life-threatening condition. 

“He volunteered.”

“But he is the Prince of Camelot!” Gwen couldn’t believe it.

“With all due respect, Madam, at the moment he is Flight Lieutenant Pendragon.” A grin tugged at the corners of Mithian’s mouth. “Or Flight Lieutenant Camelot, as his crew calls him.”

“Done.” Lance declared when he finished wrapping a bandage around Mithian’s forearm. “We’ll check on this again tomorrow. If you need pain killers heavier than an aspirin, come see us. At any time of day.”

Mithian slid off the examining cot she’d been sitting on. “I don’t think that will be necessary. Thank you, doc.”

“They left the Prince behind…” Gwen muttered but followed Mithian out. She knew there was a debriefing before the pilots could get some much-deserved rest. 

Arthur was exhausted. He loved flying with this crew and was rather content that he had done the right thing. This didn’t mean that he wasn’t tired after all the adrenaline and tension left. 

There was a debriefing with Leon and Gwen and even Lance showed up and then there had been the video conference debriefing with their chain of command. 

First, they had been in for a bit of a scolding. Mithian for not paying attention and obtaining that scratch that went from her elbow to her wrist, him – a bit milder but nevertheless not amused – for volunteering and then Merlin, for allowing it. When the commander had ranted for a full five minutes, Arthur saw a twinkle in his eyes and then a small grin on his face. “Well done, crew. Dismissed.”

He knew that none of them would have gotten any of the rant if it hadn’t been for him. With any other soldier, it would have been quite normal to do what they had done. It hadn’t been the time and place to think about his status. He was just a member of a crew on a mission. It was normal procedure and the bandage on Mithian’s arm showed that he had been right to do it. 

The ‘well done’ reconciled him with the whole rant, though. The commander knew that they hadn’t done anything wrong. Maybe the palace just had put some pressure on him. 

Arthur smiled grimly. Father would be less than happy about his decision. That it had worked out in the end was the cream on top. He could still go with the innocent-faced ‘What? Nothing happened!’ if it came to a confrontation. 

“I’m starving.” Mithian pulled him out of his thoughts and Arthur laughed. 

“You’re always starving.” He had seen how much food she put on her plate and that she ate it all.

“I need the energy.” 

He just nodded. “I’m not that hungry.”

“We should all eat something before we get some rest.” Merlin rolled his head from shoulder to shoulder. “We hardly got any sleep and we missed breakfast.”

“We’re about to miss lunch, too, if you two don’t hurry up.” Mithian shoved the door of the cafeteria open.

They had a quiet lunch, Arthur sometimes looking at Merlin. It was probably the last flight they had together, so he needed to memorize the details of the pilot’s face. When Merlin caught him looking, he smiled back, but didn’t mention it. 

“Forgot my helmet at Leon’s,” Mithian murmured when she was done and got up. 

Merlin grinned. “Don’t stay there too long. It’s been a very short night, you need to get some rest in case they will call us again later.” He winked at her. 

Arthur watched the exchange. Just as quickly as the storm had pulled up again, it seemed to have died down and the weather forecasts had carefully announced that it would stay that way, so they might get a full night’s sleep in this time. “You seem to know her very well.”

Smiling, Merlin shrugged. “I wouldn’t say very well, but yes, we’ve known each other for quite a while.”

“How come?” Had they been a couple? Arthur felt jealousy welling up.

“When she had just entered the service, she almost got herself in trouble. Let’s just say, I was at the right place at the right time and now she’s a mighty fine winchman.”

“So you two…” Arthur gestured with his fork.

Merlin laughed. “No, we never were a couple. Some co-workers probably thought we were, but no, I’m…it’s not like that, no.”

“Very well.”

Merlin threw him a look. “Pardon?”

“Oh, never mind.” Alright, so Merlin and Mithian hadn’t been together, that was a good start. It still didn’t mean that Merlin was interested in men. Or interested in him. 

Merlin blew out a deep breath when he slumped down on his cot after a long, hot shower. It was only about three in the afternoon and still light outside. In fact, it seemed as if the sun had come out for the first time in what felt like weeks, but he was thoroughly exhausted. 

He had liked talking to Arthur the night before. He was a lot more intelligent than the press gave him credit for and was interesting to talk to. He asked the right questions and didn’t rush the conversation. But Merlin shook his head. This wasn’t the time and place to crush on him. They were both working and what Arthur had done today had upped the respect Merlin had gained for him over the past days. He was the team leader, he could have ordered Arthur to stay behind as he was just one of the crew. But Arthur was also the prince of Camelot, the future king; Merlin wasn’t sure if he would have given the order. That Arthur had taken that decision from him by just doing it…he was a better soldier than Merlin had thought. 

Turning to the side, Merlin shook his head slightly. He just couldn’t develop feelings for the man other than accepting him as a full crew member. This was their job at the moment and the second that Arthur went back into his own life, he was the prince again and Merlin was just a lowly Flight Lieutenant of the ARAF. Even though today’s military was a lot more open and being gay wasn’t something that could cost you your job, it still wasn’t something you advertised. Not that Merlin would have flaunted it in any other environment, that wasn’t him. His sexuality was his own private thing. And who said that the prince was like that, too? Merlin thought he felt some vibes the night before and when they just had lunch, but he was too tired. Maybe that had just been figments of his imagination. 

When he woke up about two hours later, Merlin got up and stretched. He felt a bit better and just put on his jeans and a long-sleeved t-shirt. It felt strange to not tie up his boots but a pair of runners that he had brought; almost like a normal person. He wasn’t a normal person while he was here, he knew, so he made his way to Leon’s office to see if there were any news.

When he rounded the corner, he stopped. Leon and Mithian stood very close and as Leon said something, Mithian giggled. She giggled! Merlin thought he had never heard that sound from her. While on duty, she made sure that she was one of the guys. The sound was refreshing and Merlin smiled. It was nice to see that something happy could happen in this horrible situation. So he turned on his heel and decided to get a tea.

“There he is, our hero pilot!” Maria, the lady with the bright red hair who constantly flirted with him when she saw him, smiled widely.

Merlin smiled back and shook his head. “Just pilot. No hero.”

“We heard that you went out there to get those people back. Wouldn’t have chased a dog outside into this weather last night. So yes, you are a hero.” She poured him a huge mug of tea.

He nodded his thanks when she handed him the mug. “Don’t forget my crew. Mithian went down there four times to get people up and wanted to stay with the remaining one even though she was injured. Arthur was the one to stay behind and wait with the evacuee for us to come back. They are the heroes. Not me. I was just flying the helicopter.”

“Oh,” she mock-frowned and slapped at his arm, “Don’t make it sound like you’re just a taxi driver. You are all heroes. Here,” she turned around and got a plate with an extra big slice of cake. “Heroes need to keep their strength.”

Merlin knew it didn’t make sense to argue, so he thanked her again and turned to find a seat. The cafeteria wasn’t overly full at this time of day, so Merlin decided against taking the food back to his room. He checked his phone and answered messages from Percy, who was at home, wishing for his face to heal faster and from Gwaine, who talked about getting released out of hospital in a few days. He had a few missed calls from his mam, so he quickly texted her that he would call her later. Then, he just sipped his tea, took a bite of cake once in a while and watched the people. 

Arthur took a deep breath. He had slept for a few hours and he would miss dinner if Elyan kept updating him now. 

“I know, Sir, and I’m sorry about it, but this is important.” 

Nothing outside this school seemed to be important at the moment. The palace, his usual life, it was all so far away that it felt like it didn’t even exist. It had only been a few days, but he had adjusted so well to being part of a crew again that Arthur wondered if anything else actually made any sense.

“I don’t want this.” He looked at Elyan who had held out a press release.

“Sir, the people of the kingdom should know.” 

Arthur threw him a tired look. “Really? Did they need to know where I was stationed when I was still a full member of the force? You kept it under tight wraps. You even got me out of there when someone blabbed. There’s no need for this to be all over the news.”

The look on Elyan’s face showed him that Elyan was on his side. It wasn’t easy for his assistant to constantly juggle the protocol and the ideas the stupid prince had. “Sir…”

“This part has to be taken out.” 

“Sir, it would be a way to show the public that you’re doing more than your share by risking your own life to help others.” Elyan pointed out.

“No, it would only show that I am more important than anyone else on this mission and that is not true. I am part of a team here and either the team is mentioned or nobody at all. The rescue teams have done so much more than me, the focus should be on them.” Arthur knew that this wouldn’t happen in an official press release from the palace. The least he could do was to not let them make superman out of him instead of the people who actually were. 

Slowly, Elyan nodded. “I’ll get it rephrased.”

“I need to see it again before it’s going to be released.” That they’d made something inconsequential public would not happen. Arthur would make them rephrase it until the merits of everybody involved were clearly stated. 

“Of course, Sir.”

Elyan then updated him on the latest in the campaign he had started. After his little speech on the stairs of the school, donations had doubled and they were already contacting builders all around the country to help rebuild the homes of those who were affected the worst. 

At least his little controlled outburst in front of the paparazzi had done some good. Arthur wasn’t dumb enough to believe that the donations wouldn’t slow down. They had to make the best of what they had gotten and maybe he needed to hold a dinner or a ball to get donations flowing again after he had returned to the palace. 

He only mentioned the dinner idea to Elyan and his assistant sprung into full action. Arthur had never heard Elyan complain about too much work and too little time, even though he knew that he didn’t delegate much and kept a close eye on everything going on with events that the prince was involved in. 

“Elyan?”

“Sir?”

“After we’re back at the palace, I want you to take a few days off. You’re working too hard.” Arthur smiled. 

“It is my job, Sir.”

“I’m just your job?” Arthur teased before he got serious again. “Find someone trustworthy to manage the aid campaign, let the palace organise the dinner or ball or whatever other event they come up with, don’t check on every little detail. Go home, take a break and be with your family for a while.”

Elyan just looked at him and it was difficult for Arthur to see what he was thinking.

“You’re…releasing me off my duties?”

“No! Oh no! It’s just…look at these people out there. Family is all they have left. It’s important. Spend time with them. How long has it been since you’ve last seen them?” 

When Elyan looked a bit sheepish, Arthur nodded. “See, that’s what I mean. Leave things to your staff and come back refreshed.”

“Thank you, Sir.”

That marked the end of their meeting and Elyan hurried away to make arrangements for a few things. 

Arthur knew it was the right thing. Elyan barely took his leave days and worked way too much. He had made camp at the school as well and was up and about whenever Arthur wanted to talk to him. He had dark circles underneath his eyes and Arthur suspected, he barely slept. Elyan was a wonderful assistant, but he needed a break. If he wouldn’t take it of his own accord, Arthur would make him. 

Straightening his back, Arthur got up. He hadn’t eaten much when they came back and now his stomach was grumbling. Maybe they had left some dinner for him.

That little speech that he had given Elyan about the importance of family left Arthur a bit uneasy. His father was more like a boss for him and since the scandal his sister had initiated by just running away and getting married to a man with a shady past in Las Vegas, father’s expectations in him had just grown bigger. He talked to Morgana on the phone once in a while, but it wasn’t as if they had an overly affectionate relationship. It might have seemed that he had a huge family, but they were all just related, he had no family to speak off. 

When Arthur thought ‘family’, Merlin’s image immediately came to his mind and he closed his eyes and groaned. They were a crew, team members, nothing more. Merlin was interesting, a professional with extraordinary skills, funny, intelligent and so good-looking. Maybe that was it. The attraction he felt was just because of his good looks and that they had had to live in each other’s pocket for the past few days, nothing more. At least that was what Arthur tried to tell himself. It would pass when he left. 

Walking restlessly through empty corridors, Arthur knew he needed to get these thoughts out of his head. What was it about Merlin that made the attraction so strong? The sticking-out ears? Arthur had always had a thing for guys with sticking-out ears. The dark hair that was a bit too long to conform to any military standards? It just screamed to be ruffled. The blue eyes that twinkled or that little grin he did when he was teasing him? Any of these alone were reason enough to have a crush on the pilot. But what good would a crush do? Arthur hadn’t been with a man since his days at school. He couldn’t be involved in any scandals and going out, screwing around sure was considered as such. So he had buried these feelings deep inside, not intending to act on them ever again. 

Arthur blew out a breath. But now there was Merlin who was constantly on his mind. This wasn’t good. 

When he rounded another corner, he would have been surprised to find himself in their corridor again if it hadn’t been for the man he had been thinking about for the biggest part of his little walk appear. Merlin seemed to be just as surprised and just stood there, for once not wearing uniform but in a t-shirt and jeans. Damn, he looked even better that way. Arthur’s throat tightened.

“Arthur.” Merlin didn’t say anything else, his voice sounded hoarse. 

He couldn’t recall that Merlin had ever called him by his first name. Either he had been the prince or the flight lieutenant or Camelot or like in their very first encounter ‘oh, it’s you’. Arthur liked the way that Merlin said his name very much. 

Arthur tried to smile, but he couldn’t take his eyes off of Merlin’s face. Slowly, he approached him. “Merlin.” It was more than a whisper and then he couldn’t help himself. He had to lean in and kiss the man who was haunting his dreams. 

Merlin hadn’t been able to sit around with his tea for too long. Usually, after a tough day, the mission went through his head again and again, analysing the situation, pinpointing the things that had gone bad, focussing on the ones that had gone good. This time, his thoughts had gone in circles. Not about the mission, but about a certain blond that had kind of forced his way onto his crew. As much as he had been against it in the beginning, he was happy to have such a dedicated soldier on his team now. But it wasn’t Flight Lieutenant Pendragon he was thinking about, it was Arthur, the blond with the blue eyes and the wonderful whole-body laugh he did when he felt not watched by the public. Merlin couldn’t help it, he had crushed on his crew member. He had crushed hard. Very hard. It wasn’t only his good looks, it was also the way he treated people. Arthur backed his words with actions. He didn’t only talk to people, he was very perceptive of what was missing and tried to provide them with it. That was so much more than the palace had done in ages, so it couldn’t be the king’s doing, but was solely Arthur’s. 

Merlin also admired how someone who was used to being the centre of attention, the one to give the orders had so easily slipped into the role of the lower-ranked team member. They held the same rank, yes, but since he had been in the job for quite a bit longer, he out-ranked Arthur. His fears of fights over authority had vanished into thin air. The way Arthur had taken over for Mithy showed him exactly that Arthur was ready to step in when the situation asked for it, that he knew how to fit into a group and how to be a crew member, who didn’t need to be in charge. 

As Merlin wandered back to his room, he took a few detours to walk off that nervous energy he was feeling, explored a few corridors he’d never been in and finally took the turn to go back to his quarters and there he stood. The man who had occupied his thoughts and who made thinking in general very difficult. 

For a moment, they just stood there, but then Arthur moved and closed the space between them and then Merlin felt his lips on his own. It surprised him a bit. Never would he have acted on his emotions, at least not while they were both on the same crew. Arthur didn’t seem to mind, though and Merlin enjoyed the kiss way too much to pull back. So he wrapped his arms around him and spun them around, so he could press Arthur again a wall, never breaking the kiss. 

He loved how Arthur gasped between kisses and tried to pull Arthur’s shirt up. He needed to get to the warm skin, feel the tight muscles underneath. 

A disappointed sound escaped him when Arthur put a hand on his chest and pushed him back, breaking the kiss. 

“Wha…?”

Oh, true, this was the prince of the kingdom, he couldn’t just kiss him like that. This wasn’t appropriate. 

“I’m...” Merlin stepped back and let go. “I’m sorry…I thought.”

Arthur groaned and leaned his head back against the wall, exposing his neck and all Merlin wanted to do was leave his mark on it. “You thought right…just…not here?”

Merlin’s eyes followed Arthur’s look up and down the corridor. He was right. Someone could walk in on them at any time and this probably wasn’t something anyone should see. 

Before Merlin could react, Arthur grabbed him by the front of his t-shirt and dragged him into his room.

Merlin looked up at the ceiling and didn’t know if he should laugh or just giggle uncontrollably. The situation was quite absurd. 

When Arthur had dragged him into the room, they had pulled at clothes and shed them as quickly as possible as if they were in a competition to get the other naked. Quickly deciding that the provided cot wouldn’t bear their weight and wouldn’t give them much room to move, they had put the small mattress onto the floor and Arthur had pushed Merlin down onto it. It didn’t even register with Merlin that Arthur had come prepared, providing lube and condoms. 

Only now Merlin smiled. He had no idea if Arthur did that whenever he could flee the palace, but he was happy that he had these things along. Or else this would have turned into a rather frustrating night. 

While Merlin had grabbed Arthur’s cock and gave it a few tugs, Arthur had different ideas. He prepared himself and then slid a condom down Merlin’s dick. Straddling him, he slowly sank down and Merlin couldn’t take his eyes off of him. He hadn’t had sex in ages but this was by far the hottest thing he’d ever seen. The blond had his eyes closed, his lips were parted and when he was fully seated, he threw his head back in a silent cry. Merlin had guided his own cock and then slid his hands up Arthur’s thighs.

For a moment, Arthur didn’t move at all and Merlin enjoyed the hot tightness around him. He could have stared up at him forever. But then Arthur finally did move and the urgency that had built up in the hallway didn’t leave time for more admiration. Arthur rode him for a while and Merlin tried to buck up into him, but soon that wasn’t enough. So he turned them around and started pounding into Arthur the way he had fantasized about the nights before. It didn’t take long, they both came pretty quickly, but it was the best thing that ever happened. It was like Arthur’s body was made for him and had only waited too be claimed. The sounds Arthur was making only spurred him on even more. 

When they came down from their high, they just lay there, trying to get their breath back, Arthur in Merlin’s arm as if they had never done anything else. 

When they had rested for a while, they had started kissing again and soon were ready for round two, which had been a lot slower and more gentle, the urgency from before gone. 

It was almost funny to think that they lay on the floor of a class room in a school and they were in the middle of this mission now. Arthur was still sleeping and Merlin watched him in the dim light that came through the windows. He had no idea what to make of the whole situation. 

Arthur grumbled and snuggled a bit closer as he was slowly waking up. He felt fantastic and stretched. All the right places felt sore and well-worked. Slowly, he blinked and found Merlin looking at him.

“Morning.”

“Hey.” Merlin smiled. 

“How late is it?” Arthur rubbed his eye and yawned. 

“Don’t know, around four?”

“Way too early to be awake.” Arthur settled in again. 

He felt Merlin chuckling. “Not a morning person, then?”

“Hell, no.” Arthur whispered against Merlin’s chest. It was nice to lie like this, he could hear the other’s heartbeat, which was soothing. 

“But you were awake right away when they called us the other night.” 

Merlin started to caress his arm with his thumb and Arthur really liked that little gesture. “That was different, it was work.”

“And this isn’t?” There was a huge smile in Merlin’s voice and Arthur looked up.

“No, this definitely isn’t.”

“What if they came looking for us?”

Arthur took a deep breath. He hadn’t thought about that. He had no clue where to take it from here and what would happen. “They didn’t.”

Merlin moved. “Maybe it would be better if I went back to my room?”

It didn’t sound too sure, as if it was the last thing Merlin wanted. Arthur knew that Merlin just gave him a chance to back out, but he didn’t want to. “Give me a few more minutes?”

Merlin gave him a little smile and Arthur settled in again. It just felt too good to be held like this. 

They almost missed the alarm clock and had to rush to get ready and get to the briefing that took place every morning on time. It was easy not to stare at Arthur when they were busy, getting their orders, going out to ready the chopper and then flying their route. It was anything but easy to not stare at him when they weren’t working or had a moment that wasn’t as busy. 

Merlin knew it was stupid, but he looked away each time Arthur caught him staring and Arthur did the same. He suspected that Mithy had noticed that something was going on, but luckily she didn’t comment on it. 

The day was uneventful and they even were able to get dinner together as a crew, but then Merlin went to his quarters. It was just too difficult. Maybe it had just been a heat-of-the-moment thing and Arthur wouldn’t want any further contact. How would that work anyway? Arthur was the future king and he was just a pilot. A king had to get married and produce heirs, even though after last night, Merlin doubted that Arthur could work up the same enthusiasm when he was with a woman. 

The thought of Arthur with a woman alone made Merlin jealous. It wasn’t up to him to decide anything, though. And maybe there was nothing to decide in the first place. This wasn’t a flight operation where you had to go by the rules and the flight manual. Unfortunately. Or else Merlin would have known exactly what he was supposed to do. 

The way things were, he just knew that he was starting to fall for Arthur. Not Arthur, His Royal Highness and not Arthur, Flight Lieutenant Pendragon, no, Arthur, the person behind all the facades. The more he learned about him, the more he liked him. And the sex hadn’t been bad either. 

Merlin knew it had been careless to sleep with Arthur here. They were on duty and if Arthur wanted, he could ruin his career by bringing it to his supervisor’s attention. He was Arthur’s boss at the moment and it could be seen as taking advantage of this fact. How stupid had he been? But there was something between them, wasn’t there? Something that was more than just one night or was he badly mistaken? 

Pacing his room, Merlin didn’t know what to do.

The dinner with his crew had been difficult. Merlin had thrown him looks all the time, but their usual banter and easy conversation just didn’t happen. Mithy sitting with them had been both a blessing and a curse. She had been chatting away, but at the same time made it impossible for him to talk to Merlin. He could only guess what was going on in Merlin’s mind and if the way his own mind was whirling was anything to go by, Merlin was just as confused and uncertain as he was.

Arthur didn’t want things to end. He had just found Merlin. Someone who didn’t bend over backwards to accommodate the prince’s wishes as he couldn’t care less about his status as the prince. Someone he had to prove to that he wasn’t someone who had been put into a position he wasn’t worthy of, that he had to show that he could do all the things his papers said. He had to earn Merlin’s respect and that wasn’t something he had to do often. 

He had managed, though, and Merlin had opened up. And last night? If that hadn’t been the best night Arthur had ever had, he didn’t know. It was almost ridiculous that they had been in a classroom on a thin mattress on the floor. He should have felt every bone in his body after that night, but he was just on an adrenaline high. 

But what was this for Merlin? Was he even interested on taking this further? And if so, how would they be able to do it? It wouldn’t be too easy to meet without the press getting wind of it sooner or later, but would Merlin even want to be with him? Knowing about all the burdens that came with it? 

Even if they were just dating for a while, there were rules and protocol to remember and Merlin would have to stick to them. All just because he was the prince and could do nothing about it. There was nothing normal about him when it came to these things. Would Merlin want that?

Did Merlin want it at all? Arthur took a deep breath; they needed to talk. 

Just as he stopped pacing his room, there was a knock on the door. 

“Camelot? Another briefing in five!”

Arthur smiled. Leave it to Mithian to thwart his plans. He could hardly miss a briefing, so he checked his appearance in the mirror and followed her down the hallway.

Merlin was already in the room and Wing Commander Kilgharrah’s face was on the big video screen.

“Ah, Flight Lieutenants, glad you could join us.”

“Sir.” Mithian and Arthur nodded at the screen. 

“Now that everybody is here, I have news for you. This mission will be concluded by tomorrow morning when you return to base. I expect you to land your helicopters here no later than 1100 hours. We will do a short out-brief before you are dismissed.”

Arthur saw the huge smile on Leon’s face and Gwen smiled just as widely. 

The commander logged out after a few more sentences and they were left to themselves.

“There’s still so much water out there…” Mithian started. 

“They can reach places by boat now, Mithy,” Leon smiled at her. “Everybody is accounted for, you have done a wonderful job.”

“Which is over now.” Arthur almost whispered. He hadn’t expected his mission to be finished so soon. 

Gwen beamed at him. “Yes. You rescued everyone and they will be brought to hotels and other accommodation until they can go back into their homes. Thank you so much.”

Merlin didn’t say much, just listened to everybody talking and once in a while he threw Arthur a look. 

Their time together had come to an end. 

There was surprisingly much to do before they could leave. If anyone assumed they just packed their bags and left, they were wrong. There were last things to finalise with Leon and Merlin made sure he said good-bye to everyone on the team, the kitchen ladies, the medical team who was also packing up and of course Leon and Gwen. 

It was good to see that the gym was a lot emptier than a few days before. People were either able to go back to their houses or had been – which was more likely – relocated to hotels and other accommodation that was a bit more comfortable than sleeping in a gym with dozens of others. 

Even though he thought about him constantly, there was just no time to talk to Arthur. He didn’t even know if Arthur would go back to the base with them or if he would go back to his own life immediately. Fuck, why couldn’t they have met at a different point in their lives?

As long as his job kept him busy, Merlin knew he wouldn’t have much time to dwell on what had happened. Maybe that was for the better. It probably was just a one-night thing that he should cherish forever but not act upon further. It would just be good to know if it were so. 

When Merlin came back to clear out his quarters, stuff his things into his bag and find all his toiletries, fold the cot up and remove all signs that he had lived in the classroom for more than a week, he saw that Arthur’s door stood wide open. Maybe this was the moment. He needed to have clarity. It would be so much easier going on with his life if he knew what the last night was for Arthur. 

Merlin shook his head. It was ridiculous how much he interpreted into that one encounter. But somehow he felt there was more to it; or…there could be more to it, that they weren’t just two complete strangers with backgrounds that couldn’t be more averse and they had just this one night and it didn’t mean anything. Merlin wasn’t built that way. He didn’t go around having sex just for the sake of having sex. He had to feel something and it would be easier to get over it if he knew that Arthur didn’t see it that way. If Arthur just wanted relief, away from his everyday life at the palace…that would be fine. Well, probably not fine, but easier to handle. If he knew about it. 

Taking a deep breath, Merlin went over and knocked against the doorframe. 

The room was already empty and tidied up, the only sign that someone had been in there at all was the folded-up cot that stood against the wall and the used blankets and sheets that were neatly folded up and sat right next to it. 

Arthur was furious. He had intended to go back to base with his crew, but the palace – or his father in this case – had insisted he returned right away. No matter how much he had argued with Elyan, who should be taking his orders from him, not his father, but Elyan couldn’t be moved. Nobody resisted a direct order from the king. There was no way Arthur would have gotten away with it this time. So he had gathered his personal belongings, quickly said good-bye to Leon and Gwen and was happy that he ran into Mithian at the entrance. 

“Oy, Camelot! Where do you think you’re going?” She grinned up at him.

Arthur’s face stayed serious. “They ordered me back to the palace. I won’t be able to go back to base with you.”

The grin made way for a frown. “What? Who on earth…? You are part of this crew, we have to report tomorrow morning. Together!”

“These orders come from a higher authority.” Arthur had a difficult time not to frown with her. He hated that father had pulled this little stunt on him as revenge for him doing this in the first place. 

“Does Merlin know about this? What did he say? There are no higher authorities than the chain of comm…” It showed on Mithian’s face that it dawned on her. “Oh.”

“Yes. Oh. I don’t like it either.” He stood at attention. “Flight Lieutenant Ellerton, it’s been an honour and extraordinary pleasure serving with you.” They both knew you didn’t salute within a building, but Arthur felt it necessary. 

Mithy copied the gesture. “Likewise.” She broke the stance and hugged him fiercely. “Take care of yourself.” When she pulled back, she looked up at him. “Have you spoken to Merlin?”

Merlin. Arthur’s insides did funny things. “I haven’t seen him since the briefing. Couldn’t find him, I don’t know where he’s been hiding.” He tried to make it sound fun, but he couldn’t help feeling it had just sounded odd. He tried pulling himself together. “Please tell him that I had to leave.”

She nodded. “He won’t like it.”

Neither do I. But Arthur didn’t say that, he nodded, turned and went to the car where Elyan was already waiting. 

Elyan didn’t say much all the way back. Arthur knew he didn’t like the king’s decision either. There was nothing to say about that. Arthur was fuming. He knew sometimes missions ended quicker than everybody had thought, but he still wished he had a bit more time with these people. It had only taken a few days and they had become the closest thing to friends Arthur was ever allowed to have. And this was exactly what his father didn’t like. He had other advisors, other people who gave input. Father always wanted him isolated from the real world, clinging to an outdated image of monarchy where the royal family lived in a citadel on a hill and the lowly peasants who only knew them from magazines and television. Arthur hated the whole snobbish attitude. He was just human. And he had once again proven that sitting in a palace, watching from afar wasn’t as good as being in the middle of the action, doing something to help. 

Arthur hated that he didn’t even have a moment to explain all this to Merlin. Merlin must think that he ran away, not even wanting to help with the clean-up and that would just add to the image he had of him before they had met. Merlin. The only person who had been able to make him come out of his shell for ages. Arthur had the feeling he could trust Merlin with anything. He had no idea where this feeling came from and what made him feel so strongly about the man, but it was there. Undeniably. He liked Merlin and ever since they had gotten orders that the mission was over, he had tried to talk to him. 

That last night…if it were up to Arthur, it wouldn’t just be that one night, it would be the first of many to follow. And days and weeks and months, all spent with Merlin. Getting to know him better, seeing what he did aside from his job, meeting his friends and family. They only had such a short time together and yet Arthur felt it wasn’t enough. And even if this only had been a one-night stand for Merlin, Arthur wanted to know, so he could at least try to get over it at some point in time. 

It was crazy that he felt so strongly for someone he’d just met, but that was the way it was and Arthur knew he had to find ways to talk to the wizard pilot with the sticking out ears. 

The Lady gently touched the ground and Merlin went through all the post-flight checks before he exhaled. “We’re back home.”

“This isn’t my home,” he heard through the speakers of his helmet. “I’m usually over in Lanford, you know?” 

Laughing, he turned around and unbuckled his seat belts. “The Lady is stationed here and as long as you are on my crew, this is your home, too.”

She grinned at him, already opening the doors of the helicopter. “Wherever I lay my helmet…I know.”

Before Merlin took his things and went to talk to the technicians for the routine maintenance check of the chopper, he touched his hand against the metal. “Thanks, dear.”

Mithian, who stood a few feet away, just smiled. In the beginning of her career, she had made a remark, asking if the pilot had an intimate relationship with his aircraft and if his wife knew about it and oh boy, had that gone down wrong. By now she knew that all the pilots had this special relationship with their helicopters and if they didn’t, they weren’t very good pilots. Of course, they would fly anything given to them, but the one they were assigned to was special. She knew that now, so she just sent a ‘thank you’ to the Lady in her thoughts. 

It was weird being back on base. Merlin looked around to see what had changed. Only to find that nothing had changed at all. It was always like this. When he came back from a mission he always had the feeling that lots of things must have changed and happened while he was gone. On one hand it was comforting to know that nothing really ever changed, on the other hand Merlin was, as always, a bit disappointed. 

Then again, he had to go to briefings and checks and it was rather late when he finally made it back to his little row house in the housing area. He had no idea why he hadn’t been given rooms in the barracks, he was a single soldier and as such he wasn’t even entitled to a house of his own. But who was he to question the decision? He had a lot more room, even though the house was the smallest in the entire community, and he enjoyed being back. 

Merlin went through the mail that he had picked up on his way back after he put his bag down, his mind set on the laundry he should still be doing and the long, hot shower he was about to take. 

He blinked. There was a letter from the palace. For a quick moment, his heart beat faster. Maybe it was from Arthur? Of course Arthur would use modern communication but with his background, Merlin wouldn’t put it above him to send a letter. Then again, there hadn’t been enough time to even write, much less for the letter to be delivered already. To his disappointment, the letter wasn’t from Arthur, but informed him that he had to sign papers. They obviously wanted to avoid that he sold the story about serving with the prince of the kingdom. 

Merlin snorted up a laugh. Why would he do such a thing? He had been serving with the best crew available and they had fulfilled their task. Nothing more, nothing less. If the press wanted to know anything about the mission, they would need to be referred to his headquarters, they had a public affairs office and would tell them anything that they needed to know about the mission. If they thought they could get any personal information about Arthur out of him, they were wrong. Merlin wouldn’t share those with anyone. Those memories were too precious.

Tossing the letter onto his table, Merlin wondered what Arthur was doing right now. 

Of course they informed him that his father required his presence in his rooms on arrival, but Arthur was way too angry to see the king now. Instead of calming down, he had become more and more aggravated the closer they came to the palace. Maybe he should go and give father a piece of his mind, the way he was, all worked up and still in his flight suit. But that would only end in yelling and in the end, father would try to block all his efforts to help, boycott the ball and keep him from doing this by putting more mindless duties on him. 

So he went to his rooms first, went to have a long shower and then dressed in the laziest way he could get away with. Going over in sweatpants and only socks wouldn’t have gone down too well, so he grudgingly put on a pair of jeans and a shirt and went over.

Without knocking, he opened the door. 

“Father?”

The king was at his desk, reading through some papers of some sort and pretended to be so busy that he hadn’t heard him enter.

“Was there something you wanted to discuss with me?”

Still he got no answer. 

After waiting a few more moments, Arthur turned and went for the door. 

“Where do you think you are going?”

Oh, that got his attention. Arthur turned back. 

“I was informed that you wanted to talk with me, but I must have been mistaken. Please excuse my intrusion. I’ll leave you to your work now.” He bowed just enough to make clear he mocked the gesture. 

“You made me wait, so I’m just returning the favour.” Uther smiled the fake smile Arthur hated so much.

“I didn’t deem it appropriate to force the dirt and germs of the ordinary working class on you, so I went to clean up first.” What Uther could, Arthur could even do better, so he copied the smile. 

“About that…”

 

Later, Arthur slumped onto his bed. The ‘talk’ with his father had been more exhausting than the whole mission had been. Once father was over treating him so coldly, he had started yelling, accusing him of getting himself in danger on purpose and reminding him that his place was here at the palace and scolded his lack of appreciation for the protocol. How could he ever allow selfies or that ridiculous photo of him in a hairnet, handing out food that had made it onto the front pages of every yellow press product in the country the next day! Actually playing with the children, what had he thought? Standing by, watching, that would have been his place, praising from afar, but not being in the middle! Father informed him that he would allow him to pursue his silly little aid campaign, but if he snuck out again, he would find ways of dragging him back immediately and he expected him to never forget proper behaviour ever again. 

Of course, Arthur had been less than happy with the accusations, he yelled back that he was happy that he did go out there and help and that he could finally do something with the only real job training he had ever received and that he would pursue the aid campaign in every way he found necessary because it helped the people and if father would pull that stick out of his…he hadn’t gotten any further as Uther had taken a sharp breath and reminded him of who he was talking to. He had not apologized. 

Why would he? Uther hadn’t apologized for yelling or the nasty things he had said, so Arthur saw no need to apologize for what he had said. But it left him endlessly exhausted. Why did they waste so much energy on those petty little fights? All the things they could achieve if they worked towards the same goal for once. 

Father was still the king, yes, but he had missed the point when times started to change. The monarchy and himself weren’t a political force anymore, they were just there to represent the head of the country. Even though it was charming to maintain the romantic image of castles and maidens in distress, it wasn’t real. As a child, Arthur had looked up to his father and sometimes feared him. He couldn’t do that anymore. He still feared him, but more for his uncontrollable anger and his illogical idea that they had to cling to things that were outdated. 

No matter how much Arthur tried to make him see that the only good they could do was to be there for the people and support charities and act when their country really needed them, Uther couldn’t be moved. Arthur tried to picture his father at the shelter and the thought was so ridiculous that it made him laugh. 

After a while, Arthur looked around his bedroom. It was so incredibly big and stuffed with a lot of expensive things. Why had he been happier on a cot in a classroom next to chalk and a blackboard, in a room that wasn’t even half as large as this one? 

Merlin scratched the back of his neck. They had gone through lots of briefings and his commander had hinted that there were a few ceremonies in the early planning stages that would honour their mission. Merlin didn’t like the sound of that at all. If someone had to be honoured, it was the people that had been stuck out there in the storm and the helpers on the ground. They had just done their jobs. If anyone military personnel had to be honoured, it should be his crew; Gwaine, Percy, Mithian and Camelot. Not him, he had done nothing but fly a helicopter. 

His supervisors had listened but obviously didn’t agree and when they had finally been content with everything he told them about the mission, they had said good-bye to Mithian who had to return to her own base. 

Of course, his commander wanted to know a few things about flying with the prince and it felt weird talking about it. Merlin praised his skills and didn’t tire of mentioning that he couldn’t have gotten a better crew after his own had been forced out through injuries. 

Finally, the commander released him. Not, after giving him the rest of the day off to ‘find someone to give you a decent haircut, Emrys!’ Merlin knew he was always on the verge of getting called upon his hair. He just didn’t like a buzz cut, so he wore his hair as long as he could get away with. When they were on a mission like this one, nobody noticed. But now that he was back, he needed to at least try to look decent, so he had followed the order and had gotten it cut. Some of the cut-off hair had obviously made its way into his collar, so Merlin scratched and knew he would have to take a shower even before he hit the gym. 

It was nice to have a few days off and Merlin needed to decide what to do with them. Maybe he should pay his mam a visit? He had been there between Christmas and New Year’s but that was quite a while back already. Being on the phone with her so often always made him feel like he never really moved out and of course he had talked with her shortly after he returned. 

Maybe he should just travel? A short trip to one of the major cities in Europe? Some sightseeing, some clubbing, to get his thoughts away from this mission and a certain person of royal decent? After he came back from the gym, Merlin caught himself checking hotel prices in London and then closed his laptop. Chances to run into Arthur in the streets of London were slim to non-existent.

Just as he thought that, his mobile beeped.

_Hey, Wizard. I’m back with my unit. Thanks for letting me fly with you._

Merlin smiled. He had just said good-bye to Mithian this very morning. 

_Thanks for flying with me._

It took a while before the device buzzed again.

_Heard anything from Arthur?_

That was the Mithian he knew. Arthur had gone back into his own life that was so different from theirs, did but once you flew with Mithian, she would never call you by your titles or anything in private again. Arthur would never be ‘the prince’, he was just Arthur, the guy in the flight suit. Merlin smiled. 

_Nope._

_Too bad_ The reply was there in no time. _I really thought you had something going_

So did I. Merlin sighed. 

_Don’t know what they do all day in that castle, maybe he is just busy. I’m sure he’ll text you_

Merlin shook his head and always wondered how Mithy could type so fast. 

_Mith, he’s the prince, he has better things to do_

Reading it on the screen, it stung a bit. 

_Then he needs to change his priorities. You two have chemistry_

Merlin swallowed. He couldn’t let this conversation go further. He wouldn’t admit to anyone that he thought so, too, and that part of him had just been waiting for a call or anything from Arthur. 

_Like you and Leon?_ He grinned. 

_Yup. Like Leon and me. He’s texted twice since we left_

_Good for you._ He didn’t even mean it sarcastically. He liked Leon and if Mithian was happy, that was great. 

_Got to go. Love you_

Merlin just sent a smiley. If Mithy sent ‘love you’s there was usually alcohol involved and he didn’t want to get into that. He loved her, but more like a little sister he had to keep an eye on. 

Arthur blew out a deep breath. Usually, situations like these didn’t make him nervous. It was what he was trained to do since early childhood and they could wake him up in the middle of the night and he would remember all the do’s and don’ts and would stick to protocol. Since his mother had passed away when he was born, he only knew about her what he had been told and read. He knew that she was the first one to really be into charity and hold parties and barbeques and dinners and balls to make the rich and famous open their wallets and donate money to good causes. He had followed in her footsteps since he was old enough to do so, so this barbeque wasn’t any different from all the other things he had helped organize. 

Actually, it had been Elyan to organize this one. Elyan and his team. Arthur had made sure that Elyan took a few days off after they had come back and that his assistant relied a bit more on his team and delegated jobs instead of holding on to everything, feeling as if he had to do it all by himself. The barbeque would be a success, Arthur knew. They had invited the right mixture of people, the day was beautiful and the weather just warm enough to enjoy a day outside. The food would be excellent and Arthur hoped that at the end of the day, they would have a decent financial contribution to the new fund that had been opened in his name to help the victims of the flooding. 

He checked his looks in the mirror again. 

“Do you think we have picked the right outfit?” He looked at the suit and knew he would shed the jacket in no time and rolling up his sleeves to feel more comfortable. 

“Yes, sir, it’s perfect.”

Arthur blew out a breath again. “Are they here already?”

Elyan knew that this was the reason for his highness’ nervousness. It wasn’t about the party, they had done things like these hundreds of times. It was the people he was waiting for that made him feel the nerves. Especially one certain pilot. Elyan smiled. “They have arrived and are being led to the gardens as we speak.”

“Then it’s time to go?”

Elyan just indicated that it was time to go when Arthur spoke. 

Arthur swallowed hard. This was the first time he would see Merlin again. He had tried to find a way to contact him since he had come back, but couldn’t decide if a letter would be a good idea. It was written proof and could be used against the whole monarchy if it got into the wrong hands. He couldn’t just show up at Merlin’s house as it was on base and he needed to announce a visit and everybody would have known that he was there. He couldn’t do that until he found out if Merlin felt the same way. A text? That would have been too casual and the palace didn’t like him to use his mobile too much and he had to be careful of the phone getting hacked. So he had insisted that the party took place a lot sooner than initially suggested and had his team sent invites to the crew. 

He would see Merlin again. The thought alone pushed a huge smile on Arthur’s face. 

Percy wiped his hands on the sides of his uniform trousers again. “This feels weird.”

“Come on, let’s get something to drink and it will start feeling less weird.” Gwaine, who was still on crutches, looked around. 

Mithian beamed at everyone. “This is exciting, isn’t it Merlin?”

Merlin had been unfocused and jumpy all day long. He had gotten the invite to this thing and the minute he opened it and started reading, Gwaine was already calling him. It took him a while to realize that they would be guests of honour of this event and wasn’t sure if he liked that. He wouldn’t have minded a warning as he hated being the centre of attention. He hoped that they didn’t expect a speech or anything equally stupid. 

As the whole crew was invited, they decided on showing up in their dress uniforms, even though they would get uncomfortably hot in the early summer sun. 

That wasn’t the reason, though, why sweat was trickling down Merlin’s back already. It was an invite to the gardens of the palace. That alone could make a man nervous. But he would be seeing Arthur again. He had no idea if he would have a chance to talk to Arthur in private, but just knowing that he would see him and probably be introduced to people by him, made Merlin’s stomach do flips. 

Elyan smiled widely at them as he approached. “His Royal Highness will be with you momentarily.”

“Elyan!” Mithian beamed. “It’s so good seeing you again!”

Merlin bit his lower lip to not laugh out loud. That was so Mithy; once she’d adopted you, she didn’t care about titles and procedures anymore and that had gotten her into trouble more than once. 

“Flight Lieutenant Ellerton.” Elyan nodded but couldn’t keep the grin off his face. He explained the schedule of the party, told them that Arthur would hold a little speech and then they were supposed to make the rounds to talk about the rescue mission with all the rich attendees to make them open their wallets to give generously to the new fund. Of course he phrased it a bit more officially and made it sound as if they were all just waiting to throw their money at him. 

Merlin looked around and was happy that they had to wear their dress uniforms. None of his private clothes were a match to anything those people wore. They probably couldn’t refuse an invitation to the party, but they didn’t look as if they gave money to every cause that came their way. Tugging at the hem of his uniform jacket, Merlin braced himself. They would have to fight another battle here. One that couldn’t be won with action and knowing what to do. They all had to be charming and convincing, basically schmoozing the cash out of people’s pockets. Gwaine was definitely the better one to do that. 

“Nervous?” Mithian stepped close to Merlin.

He cleared his throat. “A bit, yes. These things aren’t my strong suit.”

“Oh, come on. You charmed the socks off of everyone at the shelter, you can do the same here.”

“I was just doing my job there.”

“And you’ll do your job here.” She winked at him. “Oh, look, Camelot is here!”

The last time Arthur had been so nervous addressing a crowd was probably the very first time he had to do it when he was merely a teenager. It wasn’t the crowd he was nervous about, though, it was the special guests. Or rather, one special guest. A guest who had no idea how special he was to him. 

He welcomed everyone to the gardens of the palace, explained a bit about the mission he had gone on and that he felt that this couldn’t be the end of it and that they could all help by giving back to the community. He mentioned the flight crew and that he would personally introduce them to the other guests and then mentioned the buffet. Something his father would have cringed at. If people were here to give lots of money, they could at least be pointed to the delicious food that had been prepared. 

Stepping down the few steps to the lawn, Arthur beamed widely. It wasn’t princely to grin like a loon, but he couldn’t help it. There they were. Percy and Gwaine, Mithian and Merlin. It had onlz been two weeks since he had seen them.

“Welcome to the gardens of Camelot Palace.”

“Your Royal Highness.” Percy bowed his head a little. 

“Prince!” Gwaine grinned. He had never been big on royalty and even though they tried to teach him how to address Arthur properly, he obviously didn’t give a damn. 

“Camelot!” Mithian made everyone laugh. 

Arthur shook hands and let himself be pulled into a hug by Mithian and then turned and stood in front of Merlin. His breath caught. While Merlin looked handsome in his flight suit with his hair all over the place from just pulling the helmet off, he looked outright gorgeous in his dress blues. “Merlin,” he whispered.

“Hello, Arthur.”

They didn’t have much time to say more as Elyan already directed them to a group of people and so they spent most of the afternoon talking and promoting the fund. 

Merlin seemed to be shy in the beginning, but as soon as someone asked questions about flying, he came to life. He answered all the questions directed at him and even contributed a few anecdotes that made people laugh. 

Arthur loved watching him. Obviously Merlin didn’t even have to put an effort into charming people, he did it naturally and Arthur just wanted to pull him away from this and kiss him. Of course, he couldn’t do that here, but he hoped he would get the chance later. 

Elyan did a great job keeping an eye on Percy and Gwaine but it seemed as if Gwaine was a great story-teller and mesmerized everyone around him. 

A few hours later, the garden party came to an end and Arthur still had no idea how to approach Merlin.

Merlin washed his hands and splashed a bit of water on his face. This garden party had been hard work and he hoped that they all had left enough of an impression that their contributions would help rebuild houses. 

The hardest part had been being so close to Arthur all afternoon. Of course, Arthur had been dragged away to talk to other guests once in a while, but he always came back to personally supervise that Merlin didn’t stay too long with some people and thereby neglected others. 

They had been asked to stay for a small dinner before they had to go back to the base and now he was in a washroom that was bigger and more luxurious than any washroom he had ever been in. As he inspected the slight sunburn on his nose, Merlin knew he was stalling. So he pulled back, took a deep breath, rearranged his uniform and went back to where the others were waiting.

“Do you think we’ll meet the king?” Mithian had taken to whispering ever since they had entered the palace. 

“No, I don’t think so.” Merlin whispered back, smiling. 

“This is Arthur’s thing and isn’t this the wing of the palace that he lives in?” Gwaine looked around curiously. 

“How am I supposed to know?” Percy looked around as well, he was just a bit better at not showing how exciting he found all this. 

A door opened and Elyan showed up. “If you would follow me?”

Mithian and Merlin exchanged looks and grinned. It was almost comical how formal Elyan was all of a sudden. He had been quite stiff at the shelter, at least in the beginning, reminding Arthur of this and pointing out that, but now that he was in his natural habitat, it felt as if he had forgotten that they knew each other differently. 

They were led into a room that was a lot smaller and furnished a lot more modernly than anything they had seen so far. A table had been set and Elyan made sure that Gwaine was comfortable just as another door opened and Arthur came in. 

Merlin’s breath caught once again. Arthur had ditched the jacket and rolled up his sleeves and it looked as if he had just run a hand through his hair.

“It’s so good being back with my crew!” He grinned widely. 

Gwaine tried to get up but Arthur just shook his head. “Get comfortable. No need to wear the uniform jackets anymore. This is my dining room, we don’t have to follow any protocol here.”

From the corner of his eye, Merlin saw Elyan making a face and almost chuckled.

“Technically, neither Gwaine nor I am part of your crew, we’ve never flown together.” Percy observed.

“You’re Merlin’s crew, I’m Merlin’s crew, who’s checking the details.” Arthur smiled and personally took care of them all having drinks.

It felt a little weird in the beginning. They were in Arthur’s part of the castle and his personal guests. It should have felt like when they met at Percy’s or Gwaine’s or at his house, but it didn’t. Not really. One big difference – aside from the sheer size of the building and the knowledge that right outside, there were tourists lining up to take photos – was that dinner was being served. 

Arthur managed to make them all relax in no time, though, and they hadn’t even made their way through to dessert when they were all teasing each other and having some laughs as if they were having dinner in the mess hall. 

They all had taken off their jackets and pulled the ties from their necks long ago. Yes, the day had been a lot of work, but this evening rewarded them for it. Arthur was a wonderful host and made them feel welcome.

All too quickly it was time to leave. 

They said their good-byes and the others were already moving towards the entrance, when Arthur called out. “Merlin?”

Merlin’s heart skipped a beat. “Arthur?”

For a moment it looked as if Arthur fidgeted. “I’ve…” He wasn’t the composed prince anymore or the eloquent dinner host, he was clearly nervous. “I’ve tried to find a way to contact you in the past two weeks, but somehow…” He looked up. “Can I call you?”

Huffing in surprise, Merlin felt like the corners of his mouth were touching his ears. Arthur had tried to contact him! There hadn’t been a single moment when they had been alone all day, so they couldn’t talk, but it seemed as if Arthur wanted to talk to him just as he was trying to do so. Merlin nodded and punched his number into the phone Arthur was holding out to him. 

“Merlin, are you coming or what?” That was clearly Gwaine yelling from downstairs. 

“I’ve…” Merlin shrugged. “I’ve got to go.” Quickly, he leaned in a brushed a kiss on Arthur’s lips. 

_Hey_

They had barely made it back to the base when Merlin’s phone beeped with this message. It was a number he didn’t know, but he couldn’t help but grinning widely.

“Are you alright?” Mithian grinned back at him.

“Yeah, I think so.” It was difficult to stay straight-faced.

 _Who’s this?_ It could as well be a misdirected message, someone sending to the wrong number, even though Merlin knew exactly who was on the other end of this conversation.

He pocketed his mobile again as they finally reached their destination. Merlin thanked the driver when he climbed out of the car in front of his house. 

“See you guys tomorrow morning!”

He didn’t wait for them to reply but entered his house quickly. As he toed off his shoes, he already had his mobile in his hand again and laughed.

 _It’s me._ With a smiley.

Chuckling, Merlin decided to play the game. 

_Me who?_

_Do you give your number to every prince you meet?_

_Not every single one_ Just one out of the one he had ever met. 

Before he had even discarded of his shirt, his phone rang. “Yes?”

“Is it a bad time?”

Merlin liked Arthur’s voice, but it was somehow even more intense hearing it over the phone. “Not at all, I’ve just made it back.”

“Hi.”

Chuckling again, Merlin opened his belt and let his dress pants drop down to his ankles. All of a sudden, that felt kind of weird, having Arthur on the phone and all. He knew he couldn’t see him, but still. “Hold on a sec, I’ll be right back.” Sprinting up the stairs, Merlin pulled his sweatpants off the top shelf of his closet and pulled them and a t-shirt on that was lying on his bed. “Okay, better.”

Arthur laughed. “What was that?”

“I was just getting changed.”

“So you’re saying that you were naked all this time?” Arthur’s voice had dropped half an octave. 

Merlin huffed out a chuckle. “No, I’m saying that I was in the middle of changing and it’s a bit difficult to pull on sweatpants when you are on the phone with someone.”

“So you were naked.” Arthur laughed.

“Undies and socks?” Merlin offered.

“Wow, sexy.”

Merlin couldn’t help it, he blushed. “It’s good to hear you,” he said after a moment of silence. 

“We’ve just heard each other all afternoon long.”

“Not the same. This afternoon was work. This isn’t.” Or is it?

“Right. I still enjoyed the afternoon. It felt good having you around.”

“Arthur…” As much as Merlin was smiling when he heard that, there was still this one night between them. 

“Merlin?”

“I think we should…at the shelter…that last night…everything happened so fast, I…”

He heard Arthur take a deep breath, but he said nothing. 

“Okay, I’m going to say it. I’m confused. I need to know what it was.”

“I think we both know exactly what it was.”

Merlin had started pacing and now stopped. “Oh.” Disappointment hit him hard. “You’re right. You’re the future king and I’m just a lowly soldier and…”

“Merlin.”

“And nobody would approve anyway and it wouldn’t work out because our lives are so different and…”

“Merlin.”

“And you can’t do anything that harms the palace and it wouldn’t be wise to…”

“Merlin, will you listen to me for a moment?”

Merlin stopped his babbling. 

“I’m glad to hear that you obviously thought there could be more between us than just one night. Because…I thought so, too.”

Blinking, Merlin didn’t know what to feel. For a few moments it had felt as if Arthur was trying to let him down as gently as possible, but this didn’t sound like it at all. “So…”

“I would like to see you again.”

His heart was beating all the way up in this throat and Merlin had to swallow a few times against it before he could speak. “You do?”

“Yes. If that’s what you want, too. That night…I need to find out…” Arthur took another deep breath. “It won’t be easy. I’m unfortunately not the guy from next door.”

Merlin smiled. “As we have found out already.”

“But if you’re willing to put up with that, I’d really like to see you again.”

His smile widened. “I’d love to.”

Arthur laughed. “Great. You still owe me a home-cooked meal, I suppose.”

Laughing, Merlin went to take a look at the old-fashioned wall-calendar that he noted all his appointments down, hoping they would find an evening very soon.

Merlin was nervous. He just had a small house on base, which he kept immaculately clean. Compared to some of the places where he had slept throughout his life, it was cosy and homely, but he knew it was nothing compared to what Arthur was used to. With Percy’s help, he had set the table beautifully. It always surprised him that the big bloke had such a knack for decorations, it just didn’t fit the image you immediately had in your head when you saw him. Percy was great at this sort of thing, though, and Merlin suspected that Percy would probably make his dream come true and open his own business either selling decorations or making wedding cakes or something similar after he retired. 

The food was slowly simmering on the stove as it should and the doorbell rang just as Merlin was opening a bottle of wine. Quickly wiping his hands on a dish towel, he tossed it aside and made his way to the door.

“Arthur!” He couldn’t keep the wide smile off his face. 

“Hello, Merlin.” 

It amazed Merlin how good Arthur looked in a simple pair of jeans and a t-shirt. “Come on in.” 

“I didn’t get around to give you a full tour of my place when you were there,” Arthur grinned, “but how about you give me a tour of your castle?”

Merlin laughed. ‘My place’. Uh huh. Arthur lived in a huge palace. His own place was nothing compared to that. “Sure, if you have an hour or two…” He grinned. “We are standing in the south wing at the moment, which was erected in 2009 and is therefore considerably new and basically no history at all. If you would follow me into the east wing, we could admire the view from the living room to the ornate gardens that are groomed by the master of the estate with his trusty lawn mower.”

Arthur looked around, a wide grin on his face. He followed Merlin around and they ended up standing in the kitchen about ten minutes later. “I like it.”

“Oh, come on.” Merlin took two glasses out of a cupboard and poured them the wine. “I’m sure the room you consider your office is bigger than this entire house.”

Shrugging, Arthur accepted on of the glasses. “You’re probably right, but it feels like a home here.”

“You know us pilots. Wherever we lay our helmets…”

Merlin relaxed. Talking to Arthur was easy, especially since he knew the life Merlin was living first hand. It had been two weeks since the night Arthur had called him before they finally found an evening where none of them had any obligations they couldn’t get out of. Even though he had thought about that almost flirty exchange at the school where he basically offered to cook for Arthur quite often, he had been sure that Arthur had forgotten all about it. 

There had been an official occasion a week ago to honour those who got injured during the mission and of course he had to be there as Gwaine’s and Percy’s supervising officer, and they all had been surprised when Arthur had showed up, too. There had not been much time to talk in private face to face, even though they were on the phone almost every evening. But this was different. Arthur was in his little house. There were no bodyguards around and nobody to watch them. It felt almost normal. As far as a first real date with a prince could ever be considered normal. 

Merlin let out a deep breath when he found that the food he had made was just the way he had intended and nothing had gone wrong. It was great to watch Arthur lose that bit of stiffness that he had shown at dinner party he had given and morph back into the Flight Lieutenant that he had seen at the cafeteria as they ate.

After dinner, they cleaned up together and Arthur even loaded the dishwasher. 

“Hey, you don’t have to…” Merlin hurried over.

“Oh, are you one of those anal types who can’t stand their dishwasher being loaded in any other way than the one they would do it in?” Arthur laughed.

“No, but you don’t have to do it. I bet you usually have people doing that for you.” Merlin felt really insecure, this was a way of life he only had heard about.

“It would surprise you how many things I actually can do myself. I’ve been to college and in the military, do you really think I’m incapable of loading a dishwasher?” 

Even though Arthur clearly teased him, Merlin only managed a wry smile. He had started liking Arthur. Really liking him, not just having a bit of a fleeting crush. But what did he know about the man? Could they even work out?

“Hey,” Arthur had stepped close. “Are you having a little freak-out?” He asked softly.

Taking a deep breath, Merlin nodded. “I think so, yes.”

“I appreciate your honesty. You have nothing to worry about, though.” Slowly, Arthur leaned in.

Merlin sucked in a surprised breath. Arthur wanted to kiss him. And he wanted to kiss Arthur, but Arthur was the prince of the country and he was just…When Arthur’s lips touched his, Merlin closed his eyes and forgot about all those irritating thoughts. 

He had hoped for a kiss. Maybe at the end of the evening, when they said their good-byes for the night or somewhere in between, as a little thanks for the meal or just because they had the wonderful wine Arthur had had delivered earlier for this or as the opening of another night like the one in the school. But here in the kitchen, next to the open dish-washer, it was just wonderful. Arthur’s lips were warm and soft and seemed to fit perfectly against his own. Merlin made a little sound when he felt the tip of Arthur’s tongue touching his skin.

Arthur pulled back immediately. “I apologize. I thought it was what you wanted, too.”

Merlin didn’t let go. “You have no idea.”

“Then…” Arthur grinned and dove in again. 

Merlin hadn’t kissed like this in forever. In his profession you just didn’t go to bars snogging random people, so he hadn’t been with anyone in quite a while before he had met Arthur. Everyone he had ever been with faded away compared to Arthur. His kiss was soft and gentle, demanding, seemed to ask questions and delivered answers. Barely breaking the kiss, Arthur lifted Merlin to sit on the kitchen counter and Merlin buried his hands in the blond hair.

When they both came up for air, Merlin had his eyes closed and let his forehead touch Arthur’s. He knew he was lost. He didn’t want to think about the future, just live in the moment, but whatever the future would bring, he knew he was in love.

They moved over to the couch to kiss some more, but they also talked a lot and Merlin liked how Arthur just spoke softly, holding him tight, whispering things close to his ear, not telling him sweet little nothings, things he didn’t know about him, opening up and letting him get a glimpse of what was under the surface of the well-built façade. 

When Arthur finally said good-night, Merlin closed the door with a smile on his face. He had to get up again in about three hours, but he didn’t care. Every minute spent with Arthur was a good one. 

It didn’t take long enough for Arthur to even have left the premises when Merlin’s mobile beeped. 

_Sleep tight_

Arthur couldn’t get the smile off his face. Of course, a little part of him had hoped they would repeat the night they had at the school. Probably in a comfortable bed with a lot more space, but this date had been wonderful and at no point it had felt right to take the next step. He had loved being in Merlin’s home and it had felt like he could breathe a lot easier there than in the confinement of his own rooms at the palace, even though they were a lot larger. 

Everything had just felt so natural and it was wonderful learning a lot more about Merlin and his background. It had also been very easy to open up. Arthur had never felt this with anyone before. Of course, he had been with other people, but he had never let his guard down like he’d done the previous evening. It felt as if he could tell Merlin everything and that put him in a good mood. Not even the stupid orders of his father – thinly disguised as requests – could make him angry today. He needed to see Merlin again as soon as possible. 

His schedule didn’t allow him much time but that didn’t mean he couldn’t send texts. So he did at every possible moment and tried to keep a straight face when he felt his mobile vibrate in his pocket, indicating that Merlin had had the time to answer. 

“Sir?” Elyan threw him a look.

“Oh…yes?” He really needed to concentrate. 

“The first numbers are in from the fundraising event.”

Arthur forced himself to listen to Elyan explaining the numbers on the spread sheets. Arthur would have understood them without the explanations, it was simple enough and even though some people said he only had been admitted into an elite school because he was the king’s son, he had to work just as hard for his degree as everybody else.

“It looks promising.” With half an ear, he listened to Elyan going through their further plans for the fund. As always, Elyan had already worked out the details and all Arthur had to do was nod. 

When his assistant was done updating him and they had spoken about some ideas for a polo tournament, Arthur looked at Elyan. “You know my schedule a lot better than I do. Is there anything planned for the next few days?”

Usually, Arthur would have been delighted to learn about all the things that were scheduled as most of them meant he could get away from the palace. 

“Is there anything wrong, Sir? If something is not to your liking, we might be able to postpone or cancel?”

Arthur took a deep breath. It sounded tempting, but no, he couldn’t let his personal life interfere with what they were working on. “No, everything is fine. Do we have a schedule yet for the ceremony for the helpers?”

Elyan looked it up. “It’ll be in three weeks from now. I’m sorry that I haven’t informed you about that yet. With everything on your schedule until then, I didn’t think it was as important yet. I a…”

“Don’t, everything is fine.” Arthur cut him off. “It just came to my mind, thank you.”

After Elyan had left, Arthur started pacing. Three long weeks in which he would probably not have a chance to see Merlin. Of course he would try to find evenings off or some hours in the afternoon where he wasn’t busy but it wouldn’t mean that Merlin would be off work at those times as well. He had no clue about Merlin’s schedule or the changes thereof. 

He smiled when his mobile vibrated again and he slowly pulled it out of his pocket.

It had been a difficult few weeks until they finally managed to synchronize their schedules a bit better. Or rather, until Merlin managed to fit his schedule around Arthur’s. He enjoyed every moment they could spend together, though. 

Merlin had never really experienced dating. He had gone on dates, he had had the odd relationship, but it never lasted long. Even though he hated when he couldn’t see Arthur for a few days, he loved the anticipation that built up during that time. 

When they were out on dates, it felt very weird knowing that security men were close-by and in the beginning, Merlin hardly dared to speak. That they should hear every word he said to Arthur just didn’t feel right. After a while, he relaxed around them and loved when Arthur took him to small restaurants or they enjoyed a meal in one of Merlin’s favourite places. They managed to sneak into the movie theatre unseen and even went to a show without anyone noticing they were there. 

The times that they were together without any guardians in tow were those Merlin enjoyed the most. He could be himself in his own house and slowly started to lose the awe he felt each time he stepped into the palace, even though it still felt very unreal. 

“What are you thinking about?” Arthur took their entwined fingers, lifted them to his lips and pressed a kiss on Merlin’s knuckles as they had cuddled up on the couch after great meal the kitchens had sent up. 

Merlin, who was leaning against Arthur, looked at him. “It’s unreal, isn’t it?”

“Unreal? What do you mean?”

“This is like a fairy tale. The prince and the lowly commoner...”

“Can we forget about that?”

Merlin took a deep breath. “You know, I can. When we are at my place. But when we are here, where all the weight of the history of our country seems to come down on us and when we’re out, you’re someone who needs to be guarded…it’s…I’ll need a while to get used to that.”

Slowly nodding, Arthur started to caress Merlin’s hand with the pad of his thumb. “I hope you think it’s worth it. Because…” He bit his lower lip. “It might not be too easy when the first photos show up and Merlin, I’m not going to lie, they will show up sooner or later. On base, you live in a protected community, but photographers are out there to hunt me down in everything I do. We’re trying to organize my time away from the palace to limit the encounters, but it will happen.”

They had never talked about that. When he was out with Arthur, Merlin tried to ignore that it was different than if he had been with someone else. 

“And after that, you won’t be safe from them either.”

“It’s photos of you they want.”

“Once photos of us get published, they will want your photo, too. They will want to know who that mysterious man is that the prince spends his time with. If I’m with you or not.”

Merlin didn’t say anything in a while. 

“We’ll deal with this when it comes up, okay?”

He wasn’t sure if he could handle it. He had never thought about this before and had never been with anyone who was so important that photographers hunted them down. 

Merlin snuggled closer when Arthur pressed a kiss in his hair. 

Arthur moaned loudly when Merlin pounded into him. He was on his side with his leg over Merlin’s shoulder and Merlin managed to hit his spot again and again. He didn’t know if he could hold on any longer as he fisted the sheets.

“Merl….”

Merlin grunted with each thrust and seemed to grow even thicker inside him, which showed Arthur that Merlin was about to come as well. 

“Yeah…please…come on…in me…” Arthur babbled. Had he had a single thought left, he might have worried about the babbling and the begging. He was a prince, and princes didn’t beg. It was amazing, though, how Merlin managed to turn his brain into mush and reduced him to sensations. Which were so overwhelming at the moment that he tense and roared out his orgasm. 

Merlin slammed in a few more times before he stilled and pulsed out his load. 

Arthur made a little nose when Merlin finally slipped out. He liked being connected like this and felt empty when Merlin had pulled back. But after taking care of things, Merlin was back with him and pressed against his back. 

Snuggling back into his chest and enjoying Merlin’s arms around him, Arthur tried to get his breath back. This was the best weekend he’d had in a long time. He had surprised Merlin with a trip to Bois Castle, which was the little country estate that his mother had left him. He didn’t use it often, but he liked being here. Bringing Merlin had been a marvellous idea. They were in a less official building and could do whatever they pleased. Which had been mostly falling into the big bed and exploring each other’s bodies as soon as they had arrived the night before.

Nobody but Merlin had ever made him feel this way. When he’d had sex before, it was always just an urgent thing, meant to relieve the tension. There hadn’t been soft kisses and tender touches, a lot of times – not that there had been too many – there hadn’t even been any kind of aftermath. Usually, the guys just jumped up and went for the shower. 

Merlin was different and Arthur knew he wanted this to last. 

“Thank you.” Merlin pressed a kiss on his shoulder and whispered as he nuzzled into his hair.

Arthur huffed out a chuckle. “What for? You making me come so hard that I saw stars?”

Not stopping caressing Arthur’s shoulder with his lips, Merlin continued. “Bringing me here, letting me into this part of your life. I know your mother is very important to you.”

They had never talked about it, but the whole country knew that his mother had died due to complications during his birth. It had made him feel guilty for years and was probably the reason why his father resented him so much. That Merlin had picked up on the importance of his mother, her being the reason for him being involved in charity work so much, made Arthur’s heart jump. He knew it was dangerous to bring Merlin here, into his mother’s old home, but now he knew that it had been the right thing to do. 

“She would have liked you.” Arthur was certain that she had welcomed Merlin with open arms. 

“I’m sure I would have liked her, too.”

Arthur closed his eyes against the tears that welled up as he imagined a meeting between his mother and Merlin. He only knew her from what he’d been told, but with Merlin being here, he had never felt so connected. 

“Come on in! Don’t stand around in the rain!”

“Mam! Mam, if you let go for a second, we both could get into the house!” Merlin laughed. It was such a typical thing for his mother to do. Hugging the air out of him in front of her house and then scolding him for still being in the rain. 

“Come on, dinner’s almost ready!” 

Laughing, Merlin followed her. Another mam-thing to do: To cook enough for a squadron and insist he eat it all.

Over dinner they caught up and after she had told him everything that had happened in tiny community of Ealdor – which was, admittedly, not very much – she asked about his job and his friends. 

“I hope your friend Gwaine is alright again?” She asked, concern in her voice. 

“He’s my co-worker.” Merlin put another spoonful of the delicious stew into his mouth. 

“And your friend! So, how is he?”

Merlin didn’t dare to object and his mam wasn’t all wrong. Gwaine was his friend. “A lot better. He’s off crutches now and back to work, even though he still can’t do all the training, but he’ll be back in no time.”

“And that other lovely young man? Percival or what was his name? The tall one?” 

Smiling, Merlin nodded. “His nose is alright and he’s as beautiful as ever.”

After another few mouthfuls of stew, Merlin noticed that his mam had stopped eating and looked up. He found her looking at him. “What?”

“So…Percival…”

“No.” Merlin laughed and reached for his glass. “He’s definitely off limits.”

“So you like him.” 

Merlin didn’t like that smile on her face. “No, mam. He’s a co-worker and a friend, nothing more. And he is with someone.”

His mother frowned. “And I thought for sure that you look different today.”

“Maybe my haircut?” Merlin went into a lengthy explanation about how they cut his hair in a way that he was able to get away with and it wasn’t in the way when he put on his helmet, all in hopes of distracting his mother. 

“It’s not the haircut, no.” She shook her head and gestured towards his bowl.

Shaking his head, Merlin indicated that he didn’t want another bowl of stew – two were enough – and then reached for his glass again. He didn’t like the direction this conversation was taking and he hoped that…

“You know, Ludmilla’s nephew is living with her now. Handsome young man, he works down in the pub for now. Maybe you want to go for a beer later?”

Oh, how he hated that innocent voice that she always used when she tried to set him up with someone’s grandson, brother, friend of a friend or in this case, nephew. 

“Mam, I’m…”

She shook her head. “It’s so painful to watch.”

“Huh?”

“You’ve grown up to be such a handsome man, Merlin, you’re so successful in your dangerous job and you are still on your own.” She reached over and put her hand on his. “I want you to be happy, Merlin.”

Happy. The image of Arthur appeared in Merlin’s thoughts and he couldn’t help but smile.

“Oh!” Hunith got up and poured them both a mug of tea. “So, you’ve met someone!”

“I never said a word!”

“Merlin Emrys! I know that smile! You have met someone!” She set a mug in front of Merlin and then sat down again with her own mug. “Tell me all about him!”

His mother was unbelievable. He had managed to keep his relationship with Arthur a secret from all his co-workers and friends and the people he was surrounded with for hours on a daily basis. He wasn’t even here, in his mother’s house for an hour yet and already she had seen right through him. And now she looked at him with this excited and happy look on her face. 

“Mam…I can’t talk about it.”

“Aw, is it still so fresh?” Her smile widened. 

“Not _that_ fresh, but…it’s a bit complicated.”

Hunith’s smile fell. “Complicated? Don’t tell me it’s something like back in the day with Will. I don’t want you to go through that again.”

Will. Merlin shook his head and grinned. They had been in their early teens and just trying things out when they noticed they both liked boys. He, being him, had fallen in love – or what he thought was love back then – and then Will noticed that he liked girls just a little bit better and had dumped him for that blond girl in school. Merlin had been heartbroken for a whole year. 

“Mam, that was so long ago.”

“I don’t like him.”

Merlin laughed. “Let it go. We all get our hearts broken when we are young. It doesn’t matter anymore.”

“So…what is so complicated with this new man? Is he married? Merlin Emrys!” She got up. “I don’t want to you break up a marriage!”

“Mam, calm down. He’s not married.”

Hunith sat down again. “Then…why can’t you tell me about him?”

That was a valid question. That he didn’t want to tell his friends was one thing, but not being able to tell his mother about Arthur felt wrong. “There’s a lot involved on his side, it’s not that easy.” He noticed the look she threw him. “And no, he is NOT married or in another relationship.” Other than with the country and its people, somehow. But Merlin didn’t say that. 

“What does he look like?”

“He’s…” Merlin took a sip of his tea. Would his mother know who he was talking about if he described Arthur to her? “He comes from a good family and has a really good education.” Nobody could argue that the royal family was good, right? And Arthur had gone to an elite school, so that wasn’t a lie either.

“So he has a good job?”

Mam had always dreamed of him finding a doctor or an architect or a lawyer, he couldn’t offer that now. “He’s a pilot.” Merlin busied himself with his tea again. It wasn’t exactly a lie, was it?

“You met him on the job?”

“Yes, I did.” That definitely wasn’t a lie. Merlin relaxed a little.

“What does he look like?”

Mam didn’t give up, did she? “He’s tall, not as tall as me, but tall. And has blue eyes. And he’s blond.”

“Doesn’t sound like your type, last time you had a crush on a blond it was Prince Arthur.” She laughed and then a fond smile showed on her face. “He must be special.”

Merlin just smiled.

Arthur smiled widely when Merlin laughed as he touched the helicopter gently to the ground. 

It was almost a miracle that nobody had found out that he was on a trip to South Africa with Merlin. He had always loved the country, the beauty of the landscape, the chance of seeing all the animals that most people around the world only knew from zoos. 

He had grinned widely when he had gotten Merlin’s reply after he had texted him to meet him halfway to the airport. 

_What? Why? Thought we would spend my leave at Bois Castle?_

Arthur liked when one of his plans worked. They had talked about spending about ten days there, so Merlin could relax and they could explore the area.

_Change of plans. Be on time_

It hadn’t taken too long before Merlin had bombarded him with questions, none of which he really answered. It was so worth it to see Merlin’s face when they boarded the plane.

“We’re not going to Bois Castle.” Merlin looked around.

“As I said, change of plans.”

“Where are we going to?”

At that very moment, the pilot greeted them and gave them the latest weather info for their flight to South Africa. 

Merlin threw him a look. “South…Africa…”

“Yes, didn’t you say the other day that you’ve never been there?”

“I did, but…South…Africa…?”

“Don’t tell me you don’t have your passport on you.”

“I do, but…what on earth happened that we’re going to South Africa?” Merlin had stared at him. 

“I just wanted to show you the landscape. But if you don’t want to go, I can make the pilot turn the plane around.”

After blinking a few times, Merlin had grinned widely and shaken his head. 

They spent a few really romantic dinners and some relaxing days at a pool before they had gone exploring. They managed to see some lions and a giraffe in the distance when they went on their safari but Arthur knew that this was the part of the trip that Merlin would love the most. 

Arthur didn’t even know for how long the arrangement with the helicopter and its pilot had been made, but he was sure that Elyan booked it for the entire day. Of course, Merlin didn’t just admire the landscape beneath them. He had started asking questions about the chopper straight away and chuckled for joy when the pilot offered to let him to take over and fly for a while. 

Merlin was still beaming when he took off the headphones. “Thank you.” 

When Merlin touched the metal door frame and whispered ‘thank you’ again, Arthur saw the pilot nod. He obviously appreciated that Merlin knew how to thank for a good flight. 

They had a wonderful dinner that night, outside, surrounded by torches and lit by the moon, Arthur knew that he had been right all along. Merlin was the man he wanted to spend the rest of his life with. 

“Oh, look who’s back from leave! Where have you been?” 

Once again, Gwaine jumped him with a question the moment Merlin entered the room. 

“On leave, you know that.” Merlin couldn’t get the grin out of his face. 

“Yes, but where on leave? It’s been raining for the past couple of days, you sure haven’t gotten this tan around here, so where did you go?”

Percy rolled his eyes and huffed. “He’ll tell us if he wants to. If not, leave him alone.”

“Oh, come on, Percy, don’t be such a spoilsport. Look at him, all tanned and relaxed and happy. We need to meet this mystery person he’s been hanging out with so much lately.” Gwaine gave them the wide-innocent-eyes look which nobody ever bought. 

“You’ll meet them when the time is right.” Merlin felt a little blush creep onto his face. 

Gwaine whooped in triumph. “See, told you there is someone. And look at that adorable blush!”

“I’m not adorable and I’m not blushing!” Merlin argued and felt his face heat up even more. 

Percy came to his rescue. “First and foremost, Merlin is our team leader and therefore you should stop asking inappropriate personal questions and listen to him giving the daily briefing.”

Gwaine made faces behind Percy’s back, mouthed ‘you’re so boring!’ but sat down on his desk and waited for Merlin to give them the latest info. 

Merlin took a deep breath. He so wanted to tell his friends about Arthur, but he knew he couldn’t. So he looked at the memos he had just taken out of the printer and went through them so his team knew what was going on.

Arthur knew that the palace wasn’t too happy that he even had a mobile, but why couldn’t there be a prince who used modern communication? The protocol didn’t say anything about it because in ancient times there were no smartphones. Alright, he also used it a lot because he knew it drove them crazy. He was in his mid-thirties. Other men his age had a job, were probably trying to feed a family and make ends meet. He had nothing. At least not in the same sense. He filled his days with charity work to have something to do until he was king. Which basically meant he had to wait for his father to die before he could do what he was supposed to do. And that was a creepy thought he didn’t want to entertain. Even though he had a rather strained relationship with his father, he wanted him to have a long life. 

And if he could do something to rile him up once in a while, that was fine. 

So he took a selfie with his favourite polo pony and sent it to Merlin. Alright, it was more of a photo of the pony’s nose and some of his own hair as the pony had snuffled at the screen with interest and somehow managed to shove him out of the photo. 

_Who’s that handsome fella?_

Of course it didn’t take long for Merlin to answer. 

_His name is Amadeus_

When Merlin didn’t reply immediately, Arthur shoved the mobile into the back pocket of his polo trousers and then patted the pony’s nose. 

“Would you like me to take a photo, Sir?” Elyan had appeared out of nowhere. 

“Sure, why not?” The selfie had been meant as a joke, a little ‘I am thinking of you’ during the day, but Merlin might also like a photo where not only the nose of the animal could be seen. So he handed the mobile over to Elyan and grinned widely after ruffling his hair. 

“Thank you.” He took the device back.

“Any time, Sir.”

Elyan threw him that weird look that said ‘I don’t want to disturb your happy time, but we really need to hurry up to make it to the next appointment’. 

“I know. Just let me take a shower and I’ll be ready for…where are we heading to today?”

Arthur didn’t have time to check his phone again, until after his visit to the veterans affairs and was back in the car again. He had meant to send Merlin the second photo, too, but before he did, he read Merlin’s reaction to the first one.

_I think I’m in love_

Arthur laughed. 

_So you’re dumping me for a pony?_

_He’s not married, is he? Seeing someone? Could you introduce us?_ There were a few laughing emojis after that, but Arthur wouldn’t have needed them. He grinned widely as he read this.

_I could ask him if he was ready for a blind date. I could set you up._

He finally sent the second photo.

_On second thought…who’s the gorgeous bloke right next to Amadeus? I’d much rather go on a date with him_

Arthur smiled at the screen and felt himself blush a little. 

_That can be arranged. When are you free?_

“If you keep that up, you’ll need a new uniform soon.” Percy came over in the gym, slinging his towel around his neck, watching Merlin do his repetitions. 

Finally, he was done and set the weights down. “What do you mean?” He reached for his own towel to wipe the sweat off his face. 

“Your shoulders. You’ve been working on them for a while now, they are getting in really good shape.”

If Merlin didn’t know better, he would think that Percy was checking him out. He knew that his friend was into fitness and bodybuilding, so the way he looked at him was merely to see the development of his muscles, though. “Probably.”

“Don’t overdo it. It looks great right now, but if you keep working on that, it’ll get out of proportion.”

“Huh?” Merlin had never been someone to think workout was fun. He did it because he had to. Otherwise he would probably be the scrawniest pilot this air force had ever seen and he would fail his PT tests. 

“If you do more for this part of your body,” Percy gestured, “you will have to do more for the rest, too, or else you will look as if you fall over any second.”

Chuckling, Merlin shook his head. “That won’t happen.” He looked at himself in the large mirrors. He was still Merlin, the kid from Ealdor who had this one talent, to fly. That he had done something for his arms and shoulders was only to look a bit better in his uniform. And maybe Arthur liked it, too. 

“Oh, alright, I see.” Percy grinned when he saw the look on Merlin’s face. “Does he like that?”

Immediately, there was a blush on Merlin’s face and he turned around to busy himself with sorting the weights, which were perfectly sorted as it was. “What?”

“There is nothing wrong with wanting to look good for that special person and judging by the sheer amount of time you’re spending in here lately, he must be really special.” 

Merlin couldn’t see anything malicious in Percy’s eyes. Percy just wasn’t built that way. Were it Gwaine he would be trying to pry information out of him and tease him any chance he got, Percy was just genuinely interested in the well-being and happiness of the people around him. “What makes you think it’s a ‘he’?”

Percy laughed. “Come on, Merlin. Everyone knows. We could as well paint the Lady pink and escort the Pride parade. If we weren’t as good at what we’re doing as we are, they would never let us fly together.”

Blinking at Percy, it took Merlin a while to shrug. He didn’t talk much about it, but he never made it a secret that he wasn’t into women. “Yes,” he said after a while, “he is really special.” 

Instead of jumping him with questions, Percy just smiled and then patted his shoulder. “I’m really happy for you, my friend.”

Arthur grinned. He had taken Merlin to the stables because of the banter about Amadeus and Merlin’s need to meet him somehow had come up again and again. 

Carefully, he had introduced the two and as a stable hand provided a few treats, he had shown Merlin how to approach the pony.

“It’s been ages since I’ve been on a horse, but I still remember how to feed one.” Merlin had thrown him a look and then presented the treat to Amadeus, who took it carefully and then snuffled at Merlin.

“So you know how to ride a horse?” Arthur’s face lit up. The image of the two of them horseback riding through the countryside appeared before his inner eye. 

Merlin chuckled. “I know how to fall off a horse, that’s for sure. Never tried it again.”

“You need to mount it again after a spill. It takes away the fear. It’s not good that you didn’t try again.”

“Arthur, I was five and my mam was scared after seeing me fall. I wasn’t allowed back until much later and then I wasn’t interested anymore.” Merlin turned his attention back to Amadeus and patted his neck.

“We need to work on that.”

“What do you mean?” 

“Everybody in my family knows how to handle a horse. You can’t just stand by and watch.” 

The disbelieving look Merlin gave him was funny.

“As long as it can’t fly, I’d rather stay on my own two feet, thank you very much.” 

Arthur grinned. “Then we’ll have to find Pegasus for you.”

Merlin chuckled. “Sounds good. Send me a text when you find one.”

Standing in the luxurious shower stall of Arthur’s bathroom, which was almost bigger than his entire bathroom, Merlin carefully reached for the shower gel. He had been here before, many times, but he was still in awe about the rooms and the things Arthur just used as if it were normal to spend more than twenty quid on a simple bottle of shower gel. Admittedly, it smelled a lot better than the 59 pence one Merlin usually grabbed off the shelf at the supermarket and his skin felt different, a lot smoother, after he used it, but it was still odd that some people lived in a world where the price of things didn’t really matter. And somehow he had become a tiny little part of this world. 

“Are you alright?”

Merlin startled when he heard Arthur softly calling out to him. He turned his head and threw him a look. “Yes.” 

“Need help in there?”

The question wasn’t asked that softly and Merlin liked the undertone. “Hmm…I think so, yes. I somehow forgot how to wash my back, I guess.”

Arthur laughed and was out of his clothes in no time. 

Turning fully, Merlin wrapped his arms around Arthur’s neck and kissed him deeply. “Thank you for today.”

Chasing Merlin’s lips with his own, Arthur smiled. “I just love to see your face when you experience something new.”

“Now you’re making fun of me.”

“Not at all.” Arthur’s hand slowly made its way down Merlin’s back and just stopped when it cupped Merlin’s buttock. “Today at the stables…in South Africa when we went on that balloon ride…”

“How did you manage to get that organised. Bet it’s strictly forbidden that you do something so dangerous.” Merlin leaned in to kiss Arthur again, not minding at all that the water ran over them and Arthur’s fingers were exploring his body. 

“Not more or less dangerous than a polo game. I could fall out of bed and break my neck, and things like that are so much more exciting.” Arthur closed his eyes and kissed back enthusiastically. 

“Depends on why you fall out of bed…” Merlin loved this. Sometimes they had whole conversations like this, in between kisses, and he wondered where he still took the brain power from to follow the train of thought as his whole body was on fire and screamed for Arthur. He rubbed his hard-on against Arthur’s and loved the moan it drew out of him. 

Arthur groaned. “You have the best ideas.” He nibbled on Merlin’s shoulder. “I wanted to inspect those new muscles a bit closer, but…are you up for something else that’s new?”

Merlin shivered. “And what would that be?” He grabbed at Arthur’s back when he felt Arthur’s fingers on his arse. 

“I want to be in you.” Arthur looked at him with uncertain eyes. 

Closing his own eyes, Merlin moaned softly at the thought. It had come natural that he topped, from their very first night on. He loved it and since Arthur had never said anything, he thought that this was the way Arthur wanted it as well. He hadn’t really missed it, but once in a while he liked someone inside him, too, so he nodded. “Yeah.”

He was slightly startled when Arthur left the shower to rummage in one of the cabinets, but then grinned widely when he came back with lube. 

“A condom?” Merlin’s eyebrow went up as he couldn’t hide the amusement. Of course they had used them in the beginning, but after their annual tests had shown they were both clean, they had ditched them and it had felt even better. 

A slight blush showed on Arthur’s cheeks and he shrugged. “Might make me last a bit longer?”

Merlin couldn’t help but kiss the face Arthur was making. Arthur usually never had issues in the stamina-department, but that he thought he would be too excited to last long enough now was equally adorable and fucking hot. “Take me,” he whispered and turned around. 

The sounds coming from Arthur were an additional turn-on and Merlin closed his eyes to concentrate on the sensation of Arthur’s fingers carefully preparing him. He hadn’t done this in a while, but he was so excited that he didn’t think that so much preparation was needed. Yet, Arthur took his sweet time and reduced Merlin to moans. 

“Ready?” 

Merlin heard the tremble in Arthur’s voice and braced against the tiles when he felt Arthur slowly pushing in. He hadn’t heard the condom wrapper being opened over the sound of the water still coming down on them, so he inhaled sharply.

“Is it alright?” 

Just nodding, Merlin tried to relax more. He was alright, this was wonderful and yet it was a tight fit and he had to fight the urge to clamp down. 

“Gosh, Merlin…”

Merlin focussed on Arthur’s voice and the way he caressed his sides as he still pushed in. Why hadn’t they done this sooner? He always felt connected to Arthur but this was even more fantastic. Arthur’s length slowly making its way up into his body was heaven and hell. It went too fast and too slow at the same time. Merlin wanted Arthur to slam into him, to claim him, to take him, but he wanted to feel this slow exploration, the way he felt Arthur’s heat and rigid size in him for the very first time. 

He heard Arthur pant as he felt him stop.

“Arthur…please…” This wasn’t the time to play, there was no need to make him wait.

Arthur held on to his hips really tight and slowly continued. “Was almost too much…”

Merlin would have loved to see Arthur’s face properly, not just from the glances he threw over his shoulder. Then again, he let his head hang between his arms, he wanted to feel Arthur as much as possible. 

His dick, that had lost most of its hardness when Arthur started pushing in, hardened again. Impatiently, he moved back against him.

“Easy…,” he heard Arthur’s strained voice. 

“Need you.” Merlin whispered. He wanted this to last forever, but he would soon need to come. 

When Arthur was finally all the way in, Merlin held his breath. 

“Gosh, Merlin...” Arthur had stopped and didn’t move, it seemed as he enjoyed the feeling just as much.

But then Merlin felt him pulling back and couldn’t help that whiny little noise that escaped his throat. He didn’t want Arthur to pull out, he needed him to…aaaah, yes, exactly like that!

Arthur found a rhythm and Merlin barely managed to stay on his feet. 

It soon became all too much. 

“Arthur…”

When Arthur reached around and wrapped his fingers around his length, Merlin yelled out as he couldn’t hold back any longer and came hard. His whole body went rigid and he felt Arthur being pulled over the edge, getting even wider inside him and pulsing out his load. 

Arthur stayed inside him a bit longer before he finally pulled out. 

 

Merlin shivered. He wasn’t certain he couldn’t move just yet, so he leaned his cheek against the tiles. He felt empty and a bit sore and so so good. 

Slowly Arthur wrapped his arm around Merlin’s waist and slid down, his back against the wall. They sat in the shower, the warm water still spraying over them, both of them trying to catch their breath.

Arthur loved the days when he could show Merlin parts of his world or days where he was able to make something happen that Merlin hadn’t experienced before. A part of him loved the times when they just stayed at Merlin’s little house a lot more, though. 

After he could convince Merlin that he wasn’t a total imbecile when it came to cooking, they usually cooked something together, took care of the dishes and then snuggled up on the couch and watched a movie or one of the shows Merlin liked so much. Arthur had always liked action movies but Merlin made him see science fiction and fantasy shows with different eyes. It was wonderful to see Merlin talk about something he was so enthusiastic about. 

Tonight, though, they had worked off some energy on the racquetball court and on the way back they had taken a little detour to a fast food place they both liked. Arthur had almost made the mistake of getting out of the car to get the food, but Merlin had stopped him at the last moment and gone in to order everything they liked.

With Merlin, away from the palace, he felt like a normal man, doing normal things. He could forget about obligations and rules for a while and that was the best feeling in the world. 

Merlin opened the door to the back seat. “Here we go.” He hauled a couple of bags and a bucket with something that smelled mouth-watering onto the seat. 

“You didn’t.”

“What?” Merlin laughed and climbed into the passenger’s seat. 

“You did not really buy Coke, did you?”

“What? Why not?” 

Arthur loved the cheeky grin on Merlin’s face. “Because you still have bottles of it in your fridge!”

“That’s different.”

Arthur started the car and brought them on their way to Merlin’s house. “How is it different?”

“When you make food at home and feel like having a Coke, you open the fridge and take it out.”

“And when you buy food?” 

“When you buy food, you have to buy the drinks, too. It’s cheaper to buy this stuff as a deal than all separately without the drinks.”

Arthur shook his head and grinned. Some days, he thought he would never understand Merlin’s logic. 

They ate in front of the TV and then Arthur just pulled Merlin over for a soft kiss.

“Thank you for today.”

Merlin nudged him. “It was just some racquetball and fried chicken. You’re used to better things.”

“No.” Arthur shook his head and stole another kiss that tasted of fried chicken and fries and soda and Merlin. “It had you in it, I’ll never get used to this.”

“Oh, shut up, you big old sap.” Merlin put a quick peck on his lips and then snuggled close as he started the movie they wanted to see.

Merlin woke up and his stomach grumbled. He grinned. They’d had a wonderful dinner and then had Arthur for dessert. Which also meant, they had worked off most of dinner already and Merlin was already hungry again. It had happened before, but never as often and regular as with Arthur. 

Slowly, he disentangled himself from Arthur’s limbs, which wasn’t easy. Each time, he managed to inch away, Arthur moved after him and held him tighter. Finally, he managed and put on the t-shirt he found beside the bed. Arthur’s sweatpants were slung over the armchair. They would have to do. It wasn’t that far to the kitchen and back. 

In the beginning, Merlin had been in total awe about the mere fact that he was in the palace. He had tip-toed around and hardly dared to speak at normal volume. More than once, he had gotten on Arthur’s nerves when he stopped and admired some kind of artwork or the quality of the wallpaper or the tapestry. Arthur had grown up with all of these things, he didn’t notice them anymore. To someone like Merlin, it was like walking through a museum. It was just that actual real people lived in the museum. 

These days, he felt more at ease with his surroundings and he padded down a dark corridor towards the kitchen. He had met the cook and she seemed to like him, so she wouldn’t mind if he took something out of the fridge at this time of night. Much. 

It was only about 11:30, as the red digital numbers of one of the stoves announced, when Merlin opened the fridge and looked for a late night snack. He didn’t feel like making a sandwich, but maybe there were some leftovers that he could sneak out, probably even enough to share with Arthur. 

Merlin thought nothing about it when he heard steps on the stairs. Most of the staff on this side of the house knew him or at least knew that he was a frequent guest of the prince, so none of them would call the guards and have him arrested for having a snack. He flinched briefly when the lights flickered to life, but only chanted a cheery “Good evening!” without taking his eyes away from the contents of the fridge. 

Only then, from the corner of his eyes, he saw the figure who was standing in the doorframe. Slowly, he turned, holding his breath. There, in all his glory, stood the king, wearing a dressing gown over a what looked like very expensive pyjamas, his feet snug in comfy looking leather slippers. 

All of a sudden, Merlin was too aware of being barefoot, in Arthur’s sweatpants and in one of his old PT t-shirts that had seen better days. 

“Your Royal Highness.” He stammered and bowed as he had seen it in one of those old movies, hoping that he hadn’t made a mistake. Even after all this time with Arthur, he still wasn’t too interested in the propriety of the court. He had never needed it either, so why bother? Now Merlin wished, he had paid more attention.

“It’s ‘Your majesty’.”

Merlin looked up. “I’m sorry, I…”

“You are not to speak until I address you, you are not to give an opinion unless I ask for it and that bow is awfully out-dated.”

Merlin blushed. So he had messed everything up that was there to mess up. In old raggedy clothes to begin with. This definitely wasn’t a good start. He didn’t dare say anything else. 

“Arthur will have a lot of work to do before we can present you.” 

Was there a smile in the king’s voice? When Merlin’s eyes flickered to the king’s face again, he thought he saw a grin tugging at the corners of King Uther’s mouth. 

“At least you are an officer of the Albion Air Force. You know how to follow rules and regulations, I am fairly confident that he will manage to make a tolerable consort of you. Now tell me, young man, is there anything worth having in this refrigerator?” 

Arthur wandered out to his sitting room. When he had woken up, Merlin hadn’t been there and he hadn’t come back after the few minutes it usually took him to go to the bathroom. So he had scrambled out of bed, pulled a hoodie over his head and found Merlin’s PT shorts that were lying somewhere on the floor. Arthur grinned. If father could see him now, he would get a heart attack. 

“Hey.” He called out softly as he found Merlin sitting in his favourite arm chair, facing a window. 

Merlin tore his eyes away from the view of the night sky. “Hi.”

“Are you alright?”

When Merlin just nodded, Arthur came closer. “What happened?”

Merlin shrugged. “I don’t really know.”

“You make no sense.” Arthur sat down on the arm of the second arm chair, his hands buried in the pockets of the hoodie. After a while, Merlin started to talk.

“I…I think I just met your father.”

Even though he didn’t mean for it to happen, Arthur froze. 

“I was a bit hungry when I woke up.”

“One has heard of that before.”

“So I wandered to the kitchen.”

“Like this?” Arthur’s eyebrow rose. 

“And as I stood there, trying to decide what to have, he came in.”

Arthur blinked. “Father came into the kitchen? At this time of night?”

“Yes, he was hungry, too.”

“I hope not for the same reasons.” Arthur shuddered. 

Merlin didn’t even want to acknowledge that. “Arthur…I did everything wrong that I just could do wrong.”

“What do you mean?”

Slowly, Merlin recounted the event, starting with him thinking it was someone from staff, to his cheery ‘good evening’ to the wrong address and everything else, all the questions the king had asked him and ending with the king leaving with a piece of quiche on a little plate and a recommendation for the right wine to have with it. 

When he ended, Arthur just stared. 

“What?” Merlin sounded very defensive. “Wasn’t that good? I mean, I made mistakes, but he seemed friendly and asked lots of questions about my job and then we just chatted.”

“You…chatted…” Arthur blinked. Father never ‘chatted’ with anyone. He interviewed, interrogated, demanded answers, he never chatted. 

“Yes, I think that’s what you call it when people have a friendly conversation about nothing particular at all and share a laugh.”

“Share…a…laugh…” Arthur couldn’t believe it. At this point, he was certain, someone from staff had played a trick on Merlin, pretending they were the king. “Are you sure that was my father?”

Merlin chuckled as he nodded. “His face is on every coin and bill, a lot of the stamps and when there was something official, you can’t avoid seeing him on the news on every channel. He wasn’t wearing his crown, but I didn’t think he would when he just got out of bed to raid the fridge. So yes, I am fairly certain that it was your father.”

Arthur didn’t know what to make of it. Father was the strictest person he knew, always criticizing, always finding ways to put other people down. And now Merlin was telling him they met in the kitchen, Merlin had made all those faux pas’ and still father had been friendly and talked to him? A normal, civilized conversation? That was difficult to believe. 

“What are you thinking about?” Merlin held out his hand.

Taking it, Arthur let himself be pulled over and soon he sat in the same big arm chair as Merlin and leaned his head against him. “I’m confused. That doesn’t sound like my father.”

“I’m not making it up. It was him.”

Arthur was sure that he would be summoned to his father’s rooms first thing in the morning.

“Hey.” Merlin whispered. “Stop thinking.”

Closing his eyes, Arthur listened to Merlin’s heartbeat and it was the most soothing sound ever. 

Arthur wasn’t the only one who barely slept after this. Merlin had been petrified when the king had pointed out all the things he had done wrong. He was obviously good in leaving a horrible first impression. It had happened before; just not with the king. 

He knew from what Arthur had told him that they had a strained relationship on a good day and an even worse one when Arthur did something the king didn’t approve of. Merlin had always asked himself if the king knew that his son, heir to the throne and future king of the country, preferred men and what he thought of it. It seemed as if the king had at least come to terms with the fact that he most likely wouldn’t see a bride in a long white dress at his son’s side. 

Which didn’t mean he would approve of him, Merlin knew that. He was just a pilot in the AAF, a lowly peasant, brought up in a humble home by a single mother. He sure wasn’t a match for all those aristocrats and nobles. Merlin knew he didn’t fit in and he probably never would. He was at home in the world of the military, familiar with helicopters and how to react in certain situations, but he had failed on royal etiquette and he had done so spectacularly. What if Arthur finally noticed that this would never work out?

“I’m going home.” He whispered into the darkness, knowing fully well that Arthur next to him wasn’t sleeping either.

“No, you’re not.”

“Arthur.” Merlin turned to face him, even though he could just make out the outlines of his body. “I did everything wrong and I most likely will do it again. And again. You’re wasting your time with me, I’m not cut out for such a life.”

Arthur scrambled around and switched the little lamp on the nightstand on before he sat against the headboard. He reached for Merlin’s hand and held it really tight. “That’s why I love you.”

Merlin, who had been in the middle of scrambling up, too – it was easier to talk if you were on an eye-to-eye level – froze. “Wha…”

Huffing out a chuckle, Arthur shrugged. “There, I said it. I love you.”

Finally making it into a sitting position, Merlin blinked. “Same here, but…Arthur, that won’t be enough. I never really thought of everything that…that comes with you, I didn’t care…”

“That’s probably the exact reason why I want you to be with me.” Arthur threw him a quick look. “Everyone I’ve ever been with just treated me as the prince, as not equal. You don’t care about the burden that comes with being me.”

“I…”

“Merlin, you made that very clear when we had that little staring contest and you coming out on top as the senior officer and team leader.” Arthur smiled. “I think I fell in love the moment you insisted on calling me ‘Camelot’.”

Merlin had loved all those moments, too. “But I’m just…”

“You’re you, the man I want to spend all my time with. Not just some of the time.”

He knew he wanted that, too, but Merlin really wasn’t sure he could ever be made into something he just wasn’t. “I’m just me. I will fail at protocol and propriety, one faux pas after the other. I care about you, I just don’t really care about all that pomp and ceremony you guys are so big on.” Merlin took a deep breath. 

Arthur chuckled. “They will all love you, exactly for that very reason.” His smile slid off his face. “To be honest, I don’t really care if they do. It’s my decision, ours, not theirs.”

Merlin watched Arthur’s face closely. They had talked about the situation before, how to handle it, what to do if the press got wind of it, but Arthur had never spoken so seriously and sounded so determindes about the long-term before. “I don’t want to make you the laughing stock of all the royalty around the world and embarrass you because I don’t know how to behave.”

Arthur threw him a look. “Did you know how to behave when you joined the Air Force?”

“Not really.”

“Did you know when to ‘Yes, Sir’ and how to dress, the do’s and don’ts?” Arthur caressed the inside of Merlin’s wrist with the pad of his thumb. 

“No, but…”

“We learned that during basic training, didn’t we?”

“That’s true…Are you saying there’s a boot camp for entering the royal world?” Merlin blinked.

Laughing, Arthur leaned his head against Merlin’s shoulder. “Well, they managed to get Morgana’s husband up to standard, why won’t they be able to do the same for you?”

“Because I’m…wait, what?”

“He came to the house at least twice a week and they hammered all the etiquette and ways to behave into him before they made it official and let Morgs marry him. If he learned it, so can you.”

“You’re saying…” Merlin’s heart hammered in his chest. He had known he wasn’t into this for a short fling, if you could call all the time they had been together a fling. In quiet moments, he had allowed himself the thought of being with Arthur for the rest of his life, but he had only thought of Arthur, not of the whole monarchy thing. He liked to ignore that part. 

Arthur looked anywhere but at Merlin. “I just proposed to you, didn’t I?” He scratched the back of his neck. 

“No,” Merlin was quick to say. He didn’t want to read more into it. “You just gave an example of how I might learn the etiquette.” He needed to give Arthur a chance to get out of this without embarrassment. 

“Good, then I’ll have the chance to do it properly one day.” 

Merlin drew in a breath. So Arthur had thought about this before and he wanted…would…if… “So I have to go through this training to make a…’presentable consort’?”

“Only if this is what you want.”

Merlin leaned back against the headboard again. “Arthur…to be honest, I never gave it much thought. The ‘consort’-thing, not the you-thing, I’m very certain about that. It’s…it’s just a bit too much. I’m just a pilot, a soldier. I still have a few years before I can retire and flying is something I love.”

“I know.” Arthur smiled fondly.

“I want to be with you…but there’s also my career…”

Arthur turned to face him. “There is no reason to end your career before it’s time. We’re not getting married yet, but as soon as the house makes our relationship official, the whole world will know. It’s not like we’re just telling our friends and that’s it. It will be on every tabloid in the country and most of the gossip magazines in the entire world.”

“I don’t need to make this official.” Merlin shook his head. “I like it the way it is. There is no need to change anything.”

He knew that things would change after this night. He would have to decide if he could and wanted to keep up with everything that was Arthur’s background. He would have to adjust, not the other way around. Arthur was the prince, he couldn’t go live on a military base with him. It would also mean that he would have to give up the job he loved sooner or later. Merlin knew he loved Arthur but…was he really ready for this?

“Hey,” Arthur nudged him gently. “There is no need for a decision right now. You can take all the time you need.” He leaned in and kissed Merlin softly.

Arthur slumped into his favourite arm chair and rubbed his face. After Merlin had left in the morning to report back for duty after a long weekend off, Arthur had felt restless. He had proposed to Merlin, hadn’t he? It was almost comical how naturally it had come. He knew he wanted to be with Merlin and if he could have, he would have married him on the spot. 

Merlin’s reaction worried him a little, though. First, he had looked as if he loved the idea and then he had brought up his career. Arthur knew that this was a natural reaction and nothing to worry about. Merlin was The Wizard, flying his second nature, so of course he had a difficult time imagining giving that up. Which he would have to, no spouse of anyone in the immediate royal family held a daytime job. Their job was to represent with the one they were married to, to make the monarchy look good, to do charity. Oh, and then there was the part about producing an heir to the throne, but it was pretty clear that this fell to Morgana and her husband. 

Of course, father had summoned him as soon as Merlin had left and Arthur had gone there with very mixed feelings. For once, father hadn’t let him wait and addressed the matter right away.

“This young man…the pilot…”

“His name is Merlin, father.”

Uther nodded once. “Merlin. I assume I will meet him stealing our food more often from now on?”

“He wasn’t stealing food!” Arthur jumped up. “He was hungry and went to get a snack. Just like you did!”

“Maybe we should inform cook about the incident and that it will happen again in the future?”

Was that an amused look on Uther’s face? Arthur hadn’t seen his father laughing in so long that it was hard to tell. “What do you mean?”

“No, Arthur. The question is: What do you intend? I know you have been seeing him for a while now. You have to make up your mind. If this is to continue, he needs the appropriate introduction before the house can make the announcement.”

Arthur blinked. “You…you don’t mind?”

Uther took a deep breath and looked at his son. “Arthur, we all know that Morgana is the one responsible for the generation of kings or queens after you.”

Nodding, Arthur slowly sank down in the chair again. “I think I made that clear years ago.”

“And the kingdom already rejoiced in the little princess Morgana gave it.”

Arthur was about to point out that the little princess went by the name of Marie and could father please not talk about her as if she was an item, but Uther already continued.

“I have been watching you and that young man…”

“Merlin.” Arthur interrupted.

“Merlin…for a while now. I know you think I am too strict and too conservative. I just want you to be prepared for the tasks that lie ahead of you. So far, you’ve done well and if there is something good coming out of your little…endeavour…It seems he makes you happy. Not that it is a priority for a king to be happy, he always has to think of the kingdom first. It can’t hurt, though, if he is happy in the process.”

Arthur blinked. Had father just said this was okay for him? That he liked that his son was happy? How many times had he done everything to take the things away from him that made him happy? And this time he was actually fine with his decision?

“To me, it looks rather serious, but…” His father continued. 

“But?” Arthur held his breath. There they went. It was never a good sign when father ‘but’-ed in a conversation. 

“He lacks manners.” 

Arthur almost laughed. If father knew what Merlin had said to his face when they first met, he would neither call Merlin ‘nice’ nor would he blink an eye about his manners as he already knew that they were bad. 

Uther got up and walked to the window. “He can learn, though. We managed to train Cenred, we will be able to train Merlin.”

“Don’t make it sound like they are dogs.” Arthur made a face. 

“Don’t pull faces behind my back, Arthur. I knew when you did that when you were five and I still know today.” He turned around again. “It’s up to you, Arthur. If you want him to be more than an acquaintance, he needs to adjust. If you think this will end soon, there is no need for coaching him.”

“I think that’s up to him, father.” Arthur looked his father in the eye. 

“So you have made your decision already.” 

There was actually an amused smile on his father’s face. Arthur couldn’t believe it, but he nodded. “Yes, I have.”

“Then let me know what he decides.”

With that, Arthur was dismissed. 

Arthur was relieved that the little midnight encounter in the kitchen hadn’t brought Merlin on father’s bad side. But he had also put his heart out there for him to see how strong his feelings for Merlin were. If Merlin decided he couldn’t go through all this and wouldn’t give up his position in the force…Arthur didn’t know what he would do. 

Merlin walked down the corridor towards the offices to get his schedule for the next couple of days. He was tired and hoped there weren’t any 24-hour duties or watch or something, he wasn’t sure he would be able to go through with them and they all knew that falling asleep during fishbowl duty was an absolute no-go and would get him in deep trouble.

Somehow he had managed to put the palace’s coaching sessions or how-to-behave-royally-training as he called it into his schedule, but it also meant that he had to go there, learn all about stupid forks and knives or distances in which to walk from certain people and then go back to base. The travelling alone was trying, but his head was spinning from language training – did they even speak English there? – and other things he had never wasted a single thought on. More than once, he had earned raised eyebrows or blank looks when he burst out laughing or just didn’t understand why it was so important to do one thing before the other. 

The only thing he was really been good at was the self-defence class they tried to push on him. The two bodyguards had worked up quite a sweat before they managed to get him down on the ground. Even though he wasn’t in the military for combat, he wasn’t a soldier for nothing. It felt good that they seemed to look at him with renewed respect after that day. He wasn’t as worthless as they might have thought. 

“Emrys? A word.” Wing Commander Kilgharrah’s voice stopped him as he entered the anteroom to check their inbox for new material. 

Merlin exchanged a look with the young Sergeant who was manning the Wing Commander’s secretariat. 

When the Sergeant shook his head and mouthed ‘I don’t know’, Merlin went over and stood in the door. “Commander?”

Kilgharrah pointed to the chairs in front of his desk. “There is something I want to talk to you about. And close the door.”

When Merlin made it back to his house about an hour later, he didn’t know what to feel. Kilgharrah talked about personal development as well as job skills and Merlin listened before he finally understood what the Commander was on about. He was basically offering him a career as instructor. If he decided that was the way he wanted to go, Merlin would have to go through additional training, get some additional licenses and in the end, he would be part of the instructor team that would train and qualify the new pilots. Merlin felt honoured and proud that his Commander thought he had it in him and the prospect was exciting. On the other hand it meant that he wouldn’t get to fly missions anymore. At least not as often as he was doing now. 

Entering his place, Merlin tossed his backpack aside and sat down on the couch, putting his feet up on the coffee table without taking his boots off. He needed to think this through. 

If he decided to go through with the instructor training and accept the position they would offer him after that, it meant that he had decided to stay on the force. But then there was Arthur. If he wanted to be with Arthur, he couldn’t stay on the force, he couldn’t have a career of his own. He would have to retire and probably would never get to fly again. Staying meant doing what he loved but losing the person that he loved and leaving meant the exact opposite. Merlin wasn’t sure he was ready for any of the options. 

Arthur was equally pleased and amused about the reports of the conduct coaches the palace had forced on Merlin. He wouldn’t mention it, but he was really proud of the progress Merlin made. He never wanted for him to change and if it were up to him, he wouldn’t mind all the faux pas’ and wrongly used forks and common language. It was Merlin and it was the way Arthur wanted him. It was astonishing how Merlin could be the efficient pilot, the Wizard, knowing what to do and being master of the situation when it was about the job and at the same time be the clumsiest person Arthur had ever encountered. 

He was about to go through the papers Elyan had given him that would prepare him for the speech he had to give at yet another event where he would try to charmingly make rich people’s money relocate from their pockets to the fund for the flood victims without really saying so, but he couldn’t concentrate. Something was off with Merlin lately. There were moments when he was miles away but when Arthur had asked him, he just shook his head and smiled cautiously. Another time, he had said that there was something at work that he couldn’t talk about. 

Arthur didn’t think that was true. It made him sad that Merlin had secrets and didn’t talk to him when something was troubling him, but there was nothing he could do. Other than worrying that Merlin might have changed his mind after seeing what was expected of him once he had moved into the palace. What if Merlin really had done so? What would he do then? 

“Sir?” Elyan had entered the room without him even noticing. 

Pulling himself together, he nodded at his assistant and turned his focus back on the papers. 

Elyan waited patiently and when he noticed that Arthur was done reading, he asked “Is there anything you would like to change?”

“No, Elyan, this is looking good. When are we expected?”

“Finally!” Gwaine beamed widely when Merlin entered the house. 

“Sorry, had some errands to run first.” That wasn’t really true. Merlin hadn’t felt like going to the barbeque that Gwaine and Percy were holding for everyone involved in the rescue efforts. He saw his crew most every day, but the thought of seeing Leon, Gwen, Lance, Mithy and the others again made him leave his house despite his reluctance. Maybe it was good to get his mind off of the thoughts he hadn’t shared with anyone so far. 

“Merlin!” Mithy hugged him fiercely and Merlin was rescued by Percy, who shoved a beer into his hand. 

“Hi everyone!”

After setting down the salad that was his contribution to the buffet and saying hi to those he hadn’t seen since they had left the shelter, Merlin started to relax. It was good that he had come here, things felt so normal when he was around those people. They all had gone through the same thing and that made them a very special group. They didn’t have to explain to each other what had been going on and what they had felt, they just understood. 

Leon came over. “Hi, Merlin.”

“Leon, good to see you.” Merlin smiled. It was true. Despite the hectic and his packed schedule, he had missed talking to the man. He had always liked how calm and collected Leon was and that he took all things big and small seriously. “How have you been?”

They had been on the phone often in the weeks after the mission, talking about reports and finishing up things that still needed some touching up, so it didn’t really feel as if much time had passed since they had seen each other last when they said good-bye at the shelter.

“Pretty good. Luckily, no new storms or floods.” Leon smiled widely. 

“Oh, thank heavens for that. Hey, I’ve never asked what you guys actually do when there aren’t any disasters.”

“I could say the same thing.” Chuckling, Leon took a sip of his beer bottle. “Actually, aside from being part of the organisation the prince set up, we’re working on new models and trying to improve the way we’re going about things. That’s the only good thing that comes out of a disaster like that.”

Merlin nodded. “That’s true. We evaluate every mission and even though the military moves slowly, there are changes once in a while.”

They talked about the improvements and Merlin enjoyed that Leon asked for his expertise in a few things until Mithian showed up and wrapped her arm around Leon’s waist. “Talking shop again?” She smiled up at the tall man.

He shouldn’t have been so surprised seeing Mithian doing that, but Merlin blinked. “So…this is one of the improvements?” He grinned widely.

Leon beamed proudly. “Yes, yes, it is.” He pulled Mithian close and smiled.

When Mithy could take her eyes away from Leon, she grinned at Merlin. “Oh, don’t act as if you didn’t know!”

She had sent him a million messages and about fifty percent mentioned Leon, so yes, he had known. Just not…so officially. “I’m happy for you.” Merlin meant it. He couldn’t imagine that it was easy in Leon’s job to have a relationship and he knew the crazy schedule of the helicopter crew, so he was familiar with the difficulties that came with it. It was nice to see Mithy smile like this and when Leon looked at her, it looked as if he had won the lottery. 

“So…” Mithy grinned at Merlin. “Why isn’t Arthur here?”

Merlin blinked and didn’t really know what to say. “I don’t know.”

Mithy pouted. “And there I thought you knew what he was doing. He never called? Or it didn’t go as expected?”

He hated lying to his friends, but nobody needed to know about their relationship. Especially in times when their future was so uncertain. So he just shrugged and took a sip of his beer. 

“Too bad.” Mithian didn’t seem to be happy with this outcome, but luckily didn’t press the subject further. 

For the rest of the afternoon, Merlin wandered around, talked to everybody, laughed when the kitchen ladies showed up and once again declared he was too skinny and he needed to eat more and thereby forced a huge piece of cake on him. The sheer size of this was something his coaches at the palace would faint about, but he happily ate it as it was delicious and he wasn’t at the palace right now. 

Gwen told him excitedly that only one of her students was still living in a hotel with her family but that their house was the next to be redone and she hoped they could move in soon. Everybody else was back in their homes already and the kids still talked about flying in a helicopter. 

It was a bit weird to see that all those people were faces and had a history for Gwen as she had known most of them before the flooding. For Merlin, they still were just faceless creatures, but he needed to keep it that way or else he wouldn’t be able to do his job. He liked seeing Gwen’s shiny eyes when Lance showed up, though. Obviously Mithy and Leon weren’t the only ones who had stayed in touch after everything. 

When he was back home again, Merlin smiled. This afternoon had taken his thoughts of all the issues he had been debating in his mind. He knew he needed to talk to Arthur.

Arthur looked up and beamed when he saw Merlin walking in. Immediately, he felt better, the warm feeling in his chest spreading more and he couldn’t help but getting up and wrapping his arms around Merlin when Merlin put a paper bag with some take-away food on his desk. “Hey.”

Before Merlin could answer, Arthur already kissed him. “I’ve missed you. How was your training?”

Merlin looked at him. “It was just one of these awareness things we have to go through every year. Hasn’t changed in years, so it’s pretty boring.”

“I remember those.” Arthur nodded. “What did you bring?” He looked at the bag.

“Chinese.” Merlin let go and took off his jacket and then kicked his shoes off. 

If father saw that he was doing that, he would have a mild heart-attack. Arthur smiled. “You always know what I need. You, back in my arms, and some Chinese food.”

Merlin smiled. 

“And then I need you to tell me what’s wrong.”

The smile slid off Merlin’s face and he nodded. 

Arthur sat on the little couch opposite Merlin. He wanted to give him the room he needed to get off his chest whatever had been bothering him for a while now. Everything in him hurt, though, he much rather wanted to wrap his arms around Merlin and beg him to not leave as he was certain that this was what Merlin would tell him. 

“Arthur…” 

Merlin couldn’t even look at him. He looked down on the floor and took a deep breath before he continued. 

“You know I love you.”

But? When a conversation started like this, there was always a ‘but’.

“Okay, to make a long story short,” Merlin looked up, “They offered me a wonderful career option.”

Arthur swallowed hard. This was what he had feared all along. He had always admired Merlin’s independence, that he could decide for himself what he wanted to do with his life and the gift he had been given. Merlin’s life was flying, not being caged in at the palace, having to follow protocol. 

Merlin talked about the training he would have to go through and the additional tests he would have to take and his eyes were shining when he spoke about passing his knowledge on to young pilots, teaching them the tricks of the trade.

“You are very young to be an instructor.” Arthur didn’t know what else to say. The icy fist that clenched around his heart and made it difficult to breathe. 

“I know! It must mean that they think I’m good enough to teach. Isn’t that wonderful?”

Arthur looked at Merlin’s face. The face he loved so much and that was shining with excitement right now. He couldn’t take that away from Merlin. “It is.”

“But…” The excitement fell from Merlin and his shoulders slumped. “If I took up this offer, it would mean…it wouldn’t be fair to you. I love you and I want to be with you. It’s just that…”

“You have second thoughts?”

“No second thoughts, no. I want this, us.”

“But you also want to stay in the Air Force.”

Merlin closed his eyes and sighed. “I don’t know what to do. We’ve been together almost a year now and I don’t want it to end. You make me a better person and I get up in the morning, knowing I do my job for you, too. I’ve been in the Air Force for twelve years, though, almost thirteen now. It’s all I know and I’m good at it. To leave that behind…”

Arthur nodded slowly. It was hard to speak as there were so many emotions that he tried to hold a tight grip on. He was proud of Merlin for having the chance to become a flight instructor. It meant he was the best if they offered this to him so soon. He could also see that it was scary to leave a life behind, the only one you knew, to get shoved in a role that not everybody was even able to fulfil. For him, the Air Force had been a chapter of his life; something he had been expected to do to serve his country for a certain amount of time. It had been clear from the very first day on that he would retire as soon as possible and go back to the life that lay before him. All Merlin had ever wanted to do was fly, it was the path he had chosen and worked hard for. He loved what he was doing and was extraordinary at it. How could he expect him to give that up? 

“I understand.” He said as controlled as possible, but his voice was trembling. 

“I haven’t made up my mind, Arthur. Don’t think I have. It’s just…why can’t I continue doing what I love while being with the person I love?”

To see the tears in Merlin’s eyes made everything even harder. 

Merlin felt sick. Somewhere in the back of his mind he had hoped that Arthur would know what to do, that he had all the answers. Seeing the look on Arthur’s face had told him that it wasn’t so. 

They had sat silently for quite a while before Merlin couldn’t take it anymore and jumped up to wrap his arms around Arthur. If this was it, he wanted to feel him one last time. 

Almost desperately, they had made love, clinging to each other and it felt like saying good-bye.

Merlin had to leave before Arthur woke up, he couldn’t bear the thought of breaking up like this. Hiding his eyes behind big sun glasses, he nodded at the guard at the gate of the housing area and almost blindly stumbled home. 

Why was this so messed up? Why did he have to fall in love with someone who couldn’t compromise, who wasn’t allowed to deviate from what was expected of him? And why did he hold on so tight to what he was used to? Why couldn’t he let go? Didn’t he love Arthur enough to give up everything he knew and had ever wanted?

The commander would want an answer soon but he could barely walk into his office and tell him that he would love to go through all the training to be an instructor but that he was with the prince and training him would have been in vain as he would leave the force within the next couple of years anyway. 

Splashing his face with water, hoping that the reddish rims of his eyes would pass as an allergy if someone asked, Merlin got changed and packed his backpack. He tried to shove the thoughts out of his mind, but he knew that everything and everyone he would encounter that day would make him question if he was willing to give all this up. 

It had been a few days since Merlin had left the palace and Arthur pondered getting out of some of his commitments for the week. He just didn’t feel like going out, trying to be charming and talking to total strangers who meant nothing to him. Which wasn’t true, they were the people of Albion and as such they meant a whole lot to him. But couldn’t he be just a normal man with normal issues for once? A normal man who got his heart broken and needed a while to put himself back together? 

He had hoped that their love would be enough for Merlin. It wasn’t as if Merlin would ever have to worry about paying the rent again or dealing with any of the things that you usually had to go to work for. True, he would be dependent on him but Merlin wouldn’t be missing anything, financially. Au contraire. Even though the salary of a pilot in the Air Force wasn’t that bad – Arthur had to admit that he had no idea if it was good or bad but he imagined there were jobs that paid a lot less – Merlin would have more money to spend than he could ever have imagined. 

Shaking his head, Arthur knew he was foolish. Merlin had never been about money, he didn’t care, as long as he could pay his own bills and help his mother out when it came to repairs of the house and such. This was about flying and the job opportunity they had offered him. Merlin was curious and wanted to learn everything there was about aviation and he was so good at it that he could pass his knowledge on to others. Arthur wished he had something like that. It wasn’t fair that Merlin would have to give up all this just because he wanted to be with him. 

Merlin feared that he would never pilot a helicopter again if he agreed to move into the palace. He loved flying and it would be a shame if someone with instincts like Merlin’s would never be able to fly again. Arthur couldn’t seriously expect him to give this up and he knew he would hate himself for the rest of his life if he took it from Merlin. 

He looked up when he noticed that Elyan was standing by the door. “Elyan.” He smiled tiredly at him. 

“If you rather we’d cancel your appearance, Sir,…” Elyan left the rest of the sentence hanging in the air. 

Arthur took a deep breath. Elyan knew him too well and of course he had noticed Merlin’s absence. It wasn’t unusual that they didn’t see each other in a few days, sometimes even a bit more than a week, but Arthur knew that he wasn’t himself and since Elyan noticed the slightest changes, he had picked that up, too.

“No, that would only spark rumours and we don’t need those. I’ll be ready on time.”

While he was getting dressed, he sent Merlin a message. _I love you_

Merlin was nervous when he approached the gates of the palace. Would they even let him in? It had felt like a good-bye when he had left Arthur’s rooms that morning, but as long as he hadn’t come to a decision, he would continue his lessons. Even though he might not be able to talk to Arthur or even see him, Arthur would be told that he hadn’t given up and tried to learn what he had to know to be by his side. 

Maybe it was a childish and stubborn thing to want it all. Arthur couldn’t have it all. Merlin knew exactly that if Arthur had a choice, he wouldn’t live the life he did now. He just made the best of it. Probably that was what Merlin had to do, too? His entire life had evolved around flying, he had wanted to be a pilot since he’d been around five and he had worked hard for his dream. He couldn’t imagine a life without it. 

What would he do all day if that was taken away from him? In the past year, he had found out that it was wrong thinking that Arthur slept in every day and then just did what tickled his fancy. He went through a routine just as rigid as the one Merlin had to stick to in the military. His tasks were different, but his schedule was packed and even though it might have looked like it, it wasn’t always easy to keep up the façade and behave in a way everybody expected you to. Talking to strangers all day, being polite, giving speeches…all that was just as exhausting as yet another training in the scorching heat of summer. 

Merlin put on his brightest smile when he approached the gate, but the guard nodded and let him through like any other day. His coaches were waiting for him as if nothing had happened and Merlin put in some extra effort and managed not to reach for the wrong cutlery which got him not a single huff from Mrs. Van Morgensteen, which was as good as a pat on the shoulder. 

“Sir?” Elyan asked carefully after he entered the room and Arthur hadn’t looked up for a while. 

“Yes? Oh…I’m sorry, did I forget about something? Do we need to go anywhere?” Arthur knew he was distracted lately.

“Her Royal Highness, Princess Morgana and…”

Elyan didn’t get further as little Marie stormed past him.

“Uncle Artha!” She ran towards him, her arms wide open. 

It was impossible to stay in a bad mood when the little whirlwind was around. Arthur opened his arms and caught her, smiling widely. “Look what the wind blew in. If that isn’t…hmmm…let me think about it…Martha?”

The little girl pouted and shook her head so fiercely that her curls were bopping around her head and the carefully arranged headband shifted and finally fell out. “No!”

“Marion?” Arthur asked carefully. He knew that she loved that game. 

“No!” She shouted louder.

“Mandamiria of Camembert?”

The girl giggled. “No!”

“Oh, now I remember! You’re Marie!”

“Yes!” She threw her little arms around his neck and hugged him tight. 

“You give her all the weird ideas, big brother.” Morgana had followed her daughter in. “The last time you came up with funny names, she demanded to be called ‘of Banana bread’ for an entire week.”

Arthur winked at Marie and she giggled again as he set her down. She immediately went to greet Elyan, who had no chance to keep his distance. If Marie liked you, you were in for a hug and a kiss and a detailed report of what she had done on that day. 

“What brings me the pleasure of your visit?”

Morgana looked at Arthur. “Aren’t we formal today? I am so happy that I made it out of this palace alive and can live a normal life.”

Arthur laughed bitterly. “As if any of us could ever live a normal life. We have no idea what normal lives look like.”

“Well, as normal as possible. The ‘away from the palace’ part is the most important.” Morgana smiled widely. “And I think it’s about time that we got you a bit of a normal life. You’ve been stuck in here for too long, Arthur.”

Frowning, Arthur just stared at his sister. There had been times when they couldn’t stand each other and did everything to make the other’s life as miserable as possible. It had started with telling on each other, went on to kicking underneath the table, pulling hair, hiding things that were important to each other and all the things Arthur thought were probably normal for children that age. They had managed to ignore each other for the bigger part of their teenage years and had only found back together when Morgana had moved out of the palace. 

“Oh, don’t give me that look. We all know that there’s trouble in paradise.” Morgana sat down on the couch and patted the space next to her. “Let’s talk.”

Arthur threw Marie a sideways look and after he discovered that she had taken over his desk and was already drawing on the official paper of the palace, he sat down in a big chair. “I don’t know what there is to tell you.”

Morgana chuckled. “Alright, you are trying to find out what I know already. Let me think…his name is Merlin, he’s a pilot in the Air Force. You met him when you pulled that stunt when there was the flooding last year.” She looked at him. “Great job, by the way, bet father was seething.” 

He couldn’t help but smile. “Let’s just say he was less than amused.”

“Okay, what else do I know…” Morgana pretended to think, even though Arthur was fully aware of her having done her homework. “They say he’s really good at what he does and that all his little fellow soldiers respect and like him.”

Arthur knew that ‘little fellow soldiers’ was just Morgana’s way of teasing, so he refrained from pointing out the correct term. “So I’ve heard.”

She looked him straight into the eye as she continued. “And you’re head over heels for him, you’ve been dating for a year and you proposed…”

The smile Arthur had plastered on his face fell off. How could Morgana know?

“…but he said ‘no’, but still wants to date you, so now you don’t know what to do.”

“Errr…what?” Nono, she had it all wrong.

“You’re head over heels for him.” Morgana smiled that dangerously sweet smile.

“Nono, that after that part.” Oops, he hadn’t even denied that he was in love with Merlin. 

Morgana leaned back. “The proposal? Oh, I made that up to make you speak. Come on, brother, what is wrong and how do we fix it?”

“We?” Arthur’s eyes went wide. 

“Yes, we. You’ve changed, Arthur. You’re not the stiff monarch-to-be in public anymore, you smile at people without being forced to, and your popularity stats have sky-rocketed. You even startled the staff by skipping down the stairs, whistling! I have not met him yet, but this Merlin is good for you. So whatever it is that went wrong, fix it.”

Arthur couldn’t hold Morgana’s gaze as she said all that. Had he really changed like that? He couldn’t help if the thought of Merlin made him smile. Looking at a spot on the coffee table, Arthur slowly started to talk.

For once, Morgana just listened silently. She could be a trouble-maker and took every chance to make fun of him, but she knew when things were important. So he told her about Merlin’s extraordinary talent and the fantastic opportunity that had opened up for him and that he fully understood that Merlin was reluctant to give all that up or to go through the training only to retire anyway. 

When he had finished, he looked up and they both didn’t say anything in a while. 

Arthur had completely forgotten about Marie and startled when she showed up and started to climb on his lap. “Hey, sweetheart.” He picked her up. 

“Uncle Artha?” She looked up at him with big eyes.

“Yes, sweetheart?”

“When you and Mervin get weddinged, I want a pink dress!”

Merlin rolled onto his back and stared up at the ceiling as he was trying to get his breath back. It had been a difficult couple of weeks and not being able to talk to anyone hadn’t made them easier. He missed Arthur so much that he couldn’t muster any energy to do anything else. He did his duty, went to work, did his PT but that was it. Most nights, he had been too worn out to even cook and that one day, when he had woken up on the couch in the morning, still wearing his boots and uniform, had been the lowest moment. That was the morning when Arthur’s text was on his mobile.

_I love you_

It took Merlin half a day before he replied. 

_Love you, too_

They carefully had started exchanging texts again, letting each other know about their days and Merlin started to feel better. Not all hope was lost and maybe they would be able to work something out. 

After three weeks of texting, Arthur had shown up at his front door. Merlin had no idea how he managed to get onto the base, but there he was, standing in the doorway, a bottle of wine and a Styrofoam container in his hands. Merlin couldn’t help but laugh, it looked so much like his ordered food was being delivered. 

They had dinner together and in the beginning, conversation wasn’t very easy. They both knew they needed to talk and come to a conclusion or else it would break both of them, but neither of them wanted to touch the subject. 

It was as if they couldn’t live with each other, but were absolutely miserable without each other, too. 

Eventually they ended up in his bedroom where they had rough, needy sex and now Merlin didn’t know what to say. He turned to his side and just looked at Arthur, took in his form, the way the blond strands stuck to his sweaty forehead, the way his chest heaved as he, too, was trying to get his breath back. 

After a while, Arthur turned his head and a careful smile showed on his face. 

“I’ve missed that.”

Merlin chuckled. Of course he had missed this physical activity, but he had dry spells before and it wasn’t so bad going without sex for a while. He had missed Arthur, the closeness, seeing and feeling his body. “I’ve missed you.”

There was a slight blush on Arthur’s cheeks. “I just said that, didn’t I?” He grinned.

Rolling his eyes, Merlin slumped back into his pillow. “If only you palace folks could speak proper English. I’ll never learn that.”

“I’ve heard you’re doing quite well.”

There was a little silence in which neither of them moved. So Arthur had been informed of him continuing the coaching and it seemed as if he didn’t mind at all. Merlin’s heart was beating hard. “Arthur…” He scrambled up to sit against the headboard. 

Arthur rolled onto his side and peeked up at him. “Hm?”

“I think I made up my mind.”

The smile fell out of Arthur’s face and he stopped all movement. 

“I’ll retire. I want to be with you. These past weeks have been the hardest in my entire life. I can’t live without you. Even those conduct lessons were easy to take, I knew I was doing it for you. So…if you’ll still have me…”

Arthur scrambled around as well and sat on the bed, cross-legged, draping the sheet around him more carefully than needed before he started to speak. “Do you think this is the right moment to talk about this? It has been a wonderful evening and sex with you is always fantastic, but…”

“Yes, Arthur. It is the right moment. I will tell my chain of command tomorrow. They won’t even have to enrol me in the instructor program as I will be leaving.” Merlin looked him in the eyes. “If you’re still…”

Chuckling, Arthur playfully slapped Merlin’s naked arm. “Of course I still want you. It is all I want. I don’t care about procedures or the palace, I want you. But I also know what big of a sacrifice this would be and I don’t want you to make this sacrifice.”

Merlin blinked. “What?”

“Merlin, the last couple of weeks were just as hard on me. First, I was really insulted because I thought your feelings for me and my love for you weren’t enough for you. Then I thought I would only ever be second-best...”

“But you’re…”

“…after flying.” Arthur smiled. “But I came to realize that it all belongs together. It would take away a part of yourself if you couldn’t fly anymore. You wouldn’t be the person I know. So…I don’t know how yet, but we will find a way. If all else fails, I’ll just abdicate when it’s time and let Morgana do the job.”

Merlin stared at Arthur. “What?”

Arthur shrugged. “It’s happened before, remember? What good would being king do if I hated every second of it because you are not around? So I’d rather not be king, but be with you.” 

“Arthur…” This didn’t sound as if Arthur had really thought this through. It looked a lot like it had just come to his mind and he was testing out the idea. 

“What?” Arthur looked at him stubbornly. “It wouldn’t be fair to make you give up your job if I wouldn’t be willing to do the same, would it?”

Merlin wrapped his arms around Arthur’s neck and kissed him softly. “Let’s not rush into decisions. As you said, we’ll find a way.”

The heavy weight that had settled on Merlin’s shoulders and around his heart, crumbled away from him, though.

“You seem to be in a good mood.”

Arthur had been whistling and beaming all day and he didn’t care that father didn’t approve of whistling unless you wanted to call the dogs back. “I am indeed.”

Uther sipped his tea. “So I take it the young man has made up his mind.”

Of course that was the reason why father had requested his presence in the gardens. Arthur lounged a bit more in the fragile looking garden chair and nodded. “Indeed, he has.” 

This was a ridiculous game. If father for once could just say ‘hey, what’s up, any news?’, but that would never happen. Arthur wondered at which point his father had missed that times were changing and that you had to change with them. 

“Tell him he needs to come get my permission to marry you.”

Arthur stopped moving and he had a difficult time not to stare at Uther open-mouthed. He set his tea cup down with a bit more force than was decent. “You can’t be serious. I was the one who proposed!” Well, not officially, not really, not yet, it was just a proposal that had slipped out of his mouth all those weeks ago. He needed to do this all the right way, finding a ring first. “If this has to happen at all, I need to talk to his mother.”

“I am the King and as such, I need to approve of all the unions, you know that.”

Blinking, Arthur wasn’t sure if he had just seen a smile tugging at the corners of his father’s mouth. “So…do you approve?”

Uther turned and set his cup down. “Where do you plan to live?”

“We haven’t thought about that yet. Maybe Albion House?” It was the first thing that came to Arthur’s mind. He had always loved the house which was just far away enough from the palace to guarantee the relative peace and quiet he had always wanted and close enough to be there when he was needed. Bois Castle, as much as he loved it, was just too far away from the city.

Uther nodded. “And what is your approximate timeline for this…endeavour?”

Phrasings like these made Arthur livid. It wasn’t like he had set his mind on an expedition to Antarctica. He knew, though, that pointing that out would only make them argue again and he didn’t want to destroy this conversation. “We have no real time-line yet.” It was all too new, only two days ago Merlin had told him that he was willing to give up his entire life and dreams for him and he had refused to let him do so. The thought of him giving up his own life and everything that he had been training for his entire life was too fresh, too. 

“Then you should tell your assistant to start with the preparations.”

“There is no need to hurry, father. There are still a few things that have to be decided and done before we make this official.”

The amused look on Uther’s face made way for a frown. “A few things? What would that be? He had been cleared by the time he first set foot into this house, he is not still married to someone else and has a spotless, if common, background.”

Arthur took a deep breath. Should he risk telling his father about Merlin’s career and that he couldn’t take the gift from him that he was born with? That they needed to work around it and it might even take a few years before they could get married? Would father revoke his approval if he knew about all this?

“Oh, someone got laid.” Gwaine grinned widely when Merlin walked into the crew room. 

“What?” Of course he got laid and he got laid good, but there was no way he could tell his friends. They would only ask questions and he couldn’t answer any of them. 

Gwaine’s grin grew impossibly wider. “I know that look on you, you had some fun last night.”

Oh yes, did they have fun the previous night. It was almost as if Arthur was freed when they weren’t in the palace and he got the best ideas. He didn’t hold back with affection when they met at his place, but it was almost as if Merlin could see the man Arthur would be if he weren’t forced into so many rules. 

“I knew it! And who’s the lucky one?”

Percy set a bottle of water in front of Gwaine. “That’s totally and only Merlin’s business, you fishwife. Keep your nose out of it. If he wants to tell us, he will.”

Merlin chuckled, took the offered bottle and sent Percy a grateful look. “I indeed have something to tell you.”

With that, he pulled out his little green book and started briefing his crew on the things he had just heard in a briefing himself. Most of it was boring maintenance requirements, but he had also gotten some info on the exercise they would participate in. 

Even though this was just a first warning, they discussed what their tasks might be, but Merlin knew his crew was ready. Of course they trained for the emergency, but big exercises like this one were a chance to show what they could do without grave consequences if they couldn’t live up to the expectations. Which they wouldn't, Merlin knew, they had gone through a few of those things. It was like playing war without an actual war going on. 

When they were done and Merlin got up, Gwaine followed. 

“So…you finally found someone?”

Of course Gwaine couldn’t just let it go. 

“It’s too early to talk about it.” Merlin smiled carefully. 

Gwaine smiled widely. “I’m happy for you, my friend.”

Just at that moment, an empty plastic bottle hit Gwaine’s head. “Will you leave him alone already!”

Rubbing the spot where the bottle had touched him, Gwaine turned around and went after Percy, who just laughed.

“So, have you figured out what to do, o brother of mine?”

They had been in a light conversation about what was going on in the palace and the things Marie had done and said when Morgana dropped that question on him. 

“Just that we are staying together.”

“That’s a start. When will you make it official?”

Arthur worried his lower lip with his teeth, a thing that Merlin’s conduct coaches would have a mild heart attack over and that he had been told not to do since a very young age. “Do you really think that the kingdom is ready for a gay prince?”

That was a part he didn’t want to put on Merlin’s shoulders as well. He might abdicate for Merlin and Morgana would become Queen. Not that Arthur worried about this, as long as he could be with Merlin, he would leave everything else to Morgana. The difficult part was the press and the way the public saw them. If things got really bad, he wasn’t sure how to protect Merlin from them and how Merlin would take it.

“Oh, come on. Aunt Morgause survived the hassle when she married Sophia. I won’t deny that there might be stormy times ahead, but you know the rumours. You have hardly ever be seen with women by your side, most of the country suspects you prefer men anyway.”

Looking at his sister, Arthur knew she was right. There had been headlines in the yellow press and the internet was buzzing with speculations. “But…could they accept a gay king?” Then he chuckled. “I know, I’m not king yet and may father have many many more years to his rule, but…you know what I mean.”

Morgana almost rolled her eyes. “There is that. If you introduce Merlin soon enough, the kingdom and all the other houses around the world will have come to terms before you will be crowned.”

That was what Arthur hoped. “And if all else fails…”

“I can still take over.” She grinned widely. “So, what are your plans? When will he retire?”

“It’s unfair to do that.” Merlin looked at Arthur.

“No, it’s the next logical step in your career.” 

“It sounds as if you have it all figured out.”

Arthur took a sip from his beer and put the bottle back onto the coffee table. “No, to be honest, it was my sister who figured it all out.”

“What?” Merlin stared at him. What was going on? Who was planning things behind his back?

“Calm down. It’s just a suggestion. You said so yourself, you have almost thirteen years in the service. If you enrol in the program now, you will be an instructor in two years, correct?”

Merlin nodded. 

“That brings you up to fifteen years. When you get used to your new position, we make it official and introduce you as my consort. The public will be delighted that you have served our country for so many years.”

“Consort.” Merlin still had some difficulties processing what Arthur suggested.

“Just the official word. You’ll be in your mid-thirties by then and I’m going to be almost forty, we can hardly call you boyfriend.”

“And then?” 

“Then you can teach young pilots while we work up to making our engagement official. It also gives us enough time to plan and prepare everything.”

The way Arthur talked, as if everything was settled already, made Merlin swallow hard.

“And when you are ready, you retire and we can finally get married.” Arthur concluded and leaned back, smiling contentedly.

Of course Merlin had known that there needed to be an official announcement and that it probably wouldn’t be easy to bear the additional weight of becoming a public figure. And actually, this plan sounded well-thought through. It was just…it made everything sound so much more real than only a few weeks ago and…

“And you sister came up with this?”

“Well, we’ve been talking and somehow we developed…yes, it was mostly her idea. What do you think? Would that be doable? This way you can still do what you love and we’d be together and then you might be tired of the military anyway.” Arthur beamed.

“I…I don’t know what to think. I’ll…yes.”

“Yes?”

Merlin nodded. “Yes!”

Arthur felt wonderful. Merlin enrolled into the instructor program and would start classes soon. It meant that they wouldn’t see each other as often and that Merlin would have to study at night or on the weekends, but just seeing the shine of Merlin’s eyes when he talked about it was worth everything. 

The only thing that Merlin wasn’t happy about was that he couldn’t tell people that he was in a relationship and Arthur understood. He wanted to shout it out, too, wanted to tell everyone that the pilot with the sticking out ears was the person he would spend the rest of his life with, but there was protocol and as long as Merlin was still following his career, they couldn’t make it official.

It was official in Arthur’s heart, though, but as much as he wanted, he couldn’t get Merlin a token of his affection. If Merlin wore a ring, people would start asking questions. And he could hardly buy him a helicopter of his own, even though Arthur liked that thought a lot when he first had it. 

“Sir?” Elyan cleared his throat. 

When Arthur looked up, he continued. “Your father is waiting.”

“Oh, I must have forgotten the time. Thank you, Elyan.”

Elyan nodded once and smiled at him. That was something very rare but Arthur knew that his assistant was happy for him, too. He had been there through heartbreaks and loneliness and Arthur was very grateful for that, so why shouldn’t he let Elyan know that he was happy? 

“Take the rest of the day off, Elyan.”

“Sir?”

“You should have an early start into the weekend.” 

Arthur nodded at him. Elyan was there on the weekends, too, if he needed him and if something official took place, but this was a weekend off and why shouldn’t he get a head start and be able to get out of the city to see his family before the rush hour started? “Have a good time.”

“Thank you, Sir.”

Humming a little tune, Arthur made his way to his father’s rooms. He had been surprised at how well he had taken their plans and that he never once opposed to their relationship. Maybe his father wasn’t as bad as he had always thought? Strict, yes, but evil? Probably not. 

“Arthur, come in, we need to talk about something.”

“Father?” Arthur’s good mood faltered. 

“Two things. First: We need to find a title for the young man and second…” There it was again, that amused smile on father’s face. “I keep running into him in the kitchens at night.”

Arthur’s stomach dropped. “He just gets hungry and doesn’t want to wake anyone. And didn’t your doctors say something about those midnight snacks of yours?”

“I think our chance meetings have to stop.” Uther completely ignored Arthur’s remark about his health. 

“What do you mean?”

“I think it is about time that you invite him to one of our family dinners. Do you think he could make time in his schedule next Sunday?”

Unable to hold a huge smile back, Arthur nodded. Merlin had told him each time he had run into his father and that it wasn’t nearly as awkward as before and they actually had started to chat more than once. Obviously, he hadn’t left such a bad impression and of course father was informed about Merlin’s progress from all the etiquette tutors, so it was a huge step forward that father wanted to meet Merlin in a more official setting. Even though their family dinners were not really an official thing. 

Merlin blew out a deep breath when they made it back to Arthur’s rooms. “That went…”

“Really well.” Arthur pulled him close and kissed him softly. 

“But…”

“Oh, never mind that you nearly knocked a glass over and sent Marie into a giggle fit when your spoon dropped back into your soup.” Arthur smiled.

“That was really awkward.” Merlin felt himself blush. “I’m sorry for embarrassing you in front of your whole family.”

Merlin got out of Arthur’s arms, took his jacket off and loosened his tie.

“You didn’t. Trust me, you did very well.”

“Mrs. Van Morgensteen might object to that.” Merlin pulled a face. 

He had been nervous ever since Arthur had relayed the invitation. He knew he wasn’t ready for something like this. It was easy to talk to the king when they met at the fridge in the middle of the night. There, he was just an older gentleman in a dressing gown and slippers. Today, he had been the king. Well, probably not the king king, but clearly the head of this house and in charge of his family. Luckily, the family wasn’t too big and so he had met Arthur’s sister Morgana, her husband Cenred and little Marie, who had immediately taken to him. Merlin knew he couldn’t have been happier if he could just play with her in a corner with building blocks or Barbies or whatever the girl had along. 

If he hadn’t noticed Arthur’s encouraging looks and felt that his sister had almost adopted him already, the evening might have turned into a disaster. So, aside from the already mentioned mishaps, he had only laughed a bit too hard at something Cenred said and made faces at Marie when he noticed that she was bored. 

“I don’t care about her, I just know they all love you.” Arthur had followed Merlin’s lead and taken off his jacket and tie as well before he came over and sat next to Merlin. “And I love you, too.”

Merlin leaned his head against Arthur’s shoulder. He knew this hadn’t been a really official thing, but he had gotten his first glimpse into the world that awaited him. 

Arthur nuzzled into his hair. “Hey, when do you have to be back?”

“Class starts at 0900 hours.” 

“It’s only a few minutes after 8, can you stay a bit longer?” It sounded as an innocent question, but Arthur’s tone of voice told Merlin something different. 

Merlin looked up and saw the look in Arthur’s eyes. If this was an attempt to get his mind of everything that hadn’t gone perfect at dinner, it worked. Merlin nodded, got up and pulled Arthur along to the bedroom. 

There were days where Merlin was ready to give up. The flying part of his instructor course was the easiest. He knew how to fly and still loved every second he could spend up in the air. Sometimes it was just difficult to put his instinctive knowledge into words and making others understand. He knew that they wouldn’t let him loose on pilots in training the moment he held his licenses. For the first couple of months, he would just shadow one of the instructors and take over more and more of the responsibilities. That didn’t mean he could slack off, he needed to know all the details inside and out. 

He was grumpy that he couldn’t see Arthur as often as he wanted to and his visits to the Lady and time out with his old crew were very limited. He knew he would have to say goodbye to them soon and the thought of handing the Lady over to some other pilot was something he wasn’t taking too take well. 

But then there was progress, he aced another test and made it through another family dinner without any major mishaps and he was back in Arthur’s arms and he was happy. 

“Are you nervous?”

Merlin looked up from where he had been revising some chapters of one of his text books. “Hm?”

“About the ceremony, are you nervous?” Arthur stood by the closet at which Merlin’s new uniform hung, still wrapped in plastic. 

Closing the book, Merlin got up. Nervous was an understatement. He started pacing just thinking about it. He was a pilot, and soon to be an instructor, he was used to doing his job and giving briefings, talking in front of small audiences. But each time he went through one of these ceremonies, he was nervous as hell. In the past months, he had given a few speeches at events that Arthur still held for the fund, but this was different. If he slipped up at one of these occasions, everybody would smile politely at the lowly pilot who wasn’t used to moving in society. If he didn’t know how to move at a ceremony like this, though, he would embarrass himself and his whole chain of command. 

Arthur laughed. “Come here.” He caught Merlin’s arm as Merlin passed him. “You’ll look absolutely stunning in this uniform and even more so when they pin you.”

Wrapping his arms around Arthur’s waist, Merlin snuggled close. “I just wish you could be there.”

He felt Arthur stiffening. 

“You know…”

Sighing again, Merlin let go. “I know. Protocol doesn’t allow that.”

“I would love to show to the world that you’re mine. I’m jealous of all those guys you meet every day. I want to put my mark on you, so nobody dares to take you away from me.”

Huffing out a sad chuckle, Merlin shook his head. “That won’t happen. I won’t let it happen.” He let Arthur embrace him again and closed his eyes. 

Merlin knew it was too early. If they made their relationship public now, everything would crash down on them. Questions of when the wedding would happen would only make it harder to stick to their plan and after a while everybody would question why he was still in the Air Force and all that. They had talked it all through over and over again. 

This was just a big step in his life and he so wished for Arthur to be there. If he stayed for another couple of years, as planned, there might be one more promotion and people would wonder if he only got promoted because he was the prince’s fiancé. He had fend for this one himself, he earned it, he knew. It just hurt that the one person he wanted to share this moment with more than anyone else couldn’t be there. 

“Elyan?”

“Sir?”

Arthur got up from his desk. “Is everything ready?”

“Of course, Sir.”

“Please get the car, I’ll get changed and be down in a minute.”

Merlin’s hands were sweaty but he could hardly wipe them on his uniform pants in front of everybody. This was the big moment. Even though his pay check showed that he had already been promoted, but the ceremony was special each and every time, even though he hated that it meant he had to buy a new dress uniform for the occasion. The jacket of which hung over the special rack and waited for his Wing Commander to put it on him. He was a professional, but now he couldn’t control his facial expression. He was proud and happy and nervous and there was a little blush on his face every time he looked Arthur’s way. It meant so much to him that Arthur had found a reason to be there. 

Everybody had come. Next to Arthur sat his mam, who had travelled all the way here to be part of the ceremony. The two of them seemed to get along almost too well and Merlin knew he needed to investigate why, when they had only just met. Maybe he would talk to Elyan later. His crew was there, even though with his promotion and the new orders that were already waiting for him after finishing school, he would soon have to leave them behind, but he knew he would never not be in touch with Gwaine and Percy. Mithian was there and had brought Leon as her plus one, which made Merlin smile. They both were great and they deserved to be happy. Gwen and Lance stood in the background, unsure of all the going-ons, never having witnessed a promotion ceremony. Merlin saw lots of familiar faces, both military and civilian. 

Both his superiors held a little speech and then his Wing Commander announced that it was time to present Merlin with his new composite braids and then make him a proper Squadron Leader. 

He had asked for Wing Commander Kilgharrah to do him the honours, he had learned so much from the older officer and had looked up to him from the very beginning. So when the Wing Commander started to fiddle with the epaulette of his shirt, Merlin beamed. The wide smile changed into utter confusion which was met with laughter from his friends when Arthur got up and started to do the epaulette on his other shoulder. 

Merlin’s heart was beating wildly. This didn’t just happen, did it? Usually, only supervisors or family were supposed to do this. That Arthur did it meant…they had talked about it and had both agreed that it was too early to let anyone know about their relationship. That Arthur had showed up for the ceremony alone was a huge thing and Merlin had sworn revenge. Just the night before they had talked and Arthur had pointed out that protocol wouldn’t allow him to be there and that they still needed to keep their relationship away from the public eye while all the time he knew that he would be there. Merlin knew that his supervisors must have known, lots of people must have known or else Arthur wouldn’t have been able to come here. He was a Royal Highness, but that didn’t mean he could come and go on a military installation as he pleased. As he pinned his new rank insignia on him, it was almost like a public outing. Merlin held his breath. 

At a sign from the Wing Commander, Arthur took the uniform jacket from the rack and handed it to the Officer, who held it for Merlin to slip it on, before he nodded and went back to his seat. What was said and for how many cameras he smiled when he shook the Commander’s hand and held his certificate for everyone to see, Merlin couldn’t tell. The blood was rushing in his ears while everyone applauded. Not only was he officially a Squadron Leader now, Arthur had shown to the assembled crowd that they belonged together. This would take a while to sink in.

Later, he didn’t recall the speech he had made after that. He must have remembered the right order in which to address people, handed his mother the huge bunch of flowers he’d gotten for this moment, thanked his chain of command, comrades, his crew, old friends and new ones and finally ended with the unit’s motto that was yelled back at him from every military person in the room. 

After shaking countless hands and accepting the congratulations, Merlin thought he would never get the grin out of his face. He was ushered to the next room where they had set up a huge buffet and he needed to cut the cake, a huge structure with his new insignia, a marzipan helicopter and a little figure in a flight suit with quite remarkable ears as decoration.

Even the General, who had been detained by another commitment earlier, showed up to congratulate Merlin on his promotion. At least that was the official reason. Merlin suspected that he had come over for the chance of having his photo taken with the prince. 

As people mingled, Merlin made the rounds, thanked everyone for coming and encouraged them to make another trip to the buffet. He itched to talk to Arthur, to kiss him and giggle giddily, but that had to wait for when they were alone. This wasn’t the time and place, even though he was dying to be close to him. It was difficult enough to not blush every time when someone said ‘So…you and the prince…’ and Merlin knew he failed. Yes, him and the prince. There was no denying it. Once in a while he sent Arthur a smile across the room, but he made it his priority to talk to everyone else first. 

Just as Merlin wanted to check on his mam and see if she had everything she needed, only to find out that Mithian, Leon and Elyan were taking good care of her, his mobile vibrated. He fiddled it out of the pocket of his trousers. 

_Love you_

Merlin looked up and his eyes scanned the room. At the far end, Arthur sipped a Coke out of a plastic bottle, beamed widely and then winked at him.


End file.
